Detection of biological thiols based on a colorimetric method

Biological thiols (biothiols), an important kind of functional biomolecules, such as cysteine (Cys) and glutathione (GSH), play vital roles in maintaining the stability of the intracellular environment. In past decades, studies have demonstrated that metabolic disorder of biothiols is related to many serious disease processes and will lead to extreme damage in human and numerous animals. We carried out a series of experiments to detect biothiols in biosamples, including bovine plasma and cell lysates of seven different cell lines based on a simple colorimetric method. In a typical test, the color of the test solution could gradually change from blue to colorless after the addition of biothiols. Based on the color change displayed, experimental results reveal that the percentage of biothiols in the embryonic fibroblast cell line is significantly higher than those in the other six cell lines, which provides the basis for the following biothiols-related study.