Chemical Name: Alpha-L-Aspartyl-beta-Naphthylamide
Chemical Formula: C18H19N3O4
Molecular Weight: Approximately 341.36 g/mol
CAS Number: 139-03-7
 
Common Uses: Alpha-L-Aspartyl-beta-Naphthylamide, commonly referred to as AAN, is a substrate used in enzymatic assays to detect the activity of proteolytic enzymes, particularly trypsin-like enzymes. It has specific applications in the field of biochemistry and enzymology:
Enzyme Activity Assays: AAN is utilized to measure the activity of enzymes that cleave peptide bonds. It is commonly used as a substrate to assay protease activity, especially trypsin and related enzymes.
Protease Inhibition Studies: AAN can also be employed to study the inhibitory effects of protease inhibitors, which are compounds that block the activity of proteolytic enzymes.
 
Other Information: AAN is a synthetic peptide substrate that is cleaved by proteases at the peptide bond between the aspartic acid (Asp) and the naphthylamide moiety. The cleavage of the substrate results in the release of a fluorescent or colorimetric signal, allowing researchers to quantitatively measure protease activity.
 
In enzymatic assays, the increase in fluorescence or color intensity is directly proportional to the protease activity present in the sample. This makes AAN a valuable tool for studying protease kinetics, inhibitor screening, and enzyme function.