A skeletal muscle troponin T specific ELISA based on the use of an antibody against the soluble troponin T (16–31) fragment

Abstract Proteolytic degradation of muscle, which occurs post-mortem as part of the meat-ageing process, results in the production of protein fragments. In beef, degradation of skeletal muscle troponin T (TnT) results in the generation of a 16-residue long peptide (TnT (16–31)), identified in trichloroacetic acid (TCA) soluble extracts. We report the development of a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the quantification of TnT (16–31), using polyclonal antibodies raised against synthetic TnT (16–31). The ELISA procedure is based on inhibition of binding of the antibodies to immobilised TnT (16–31) by TnT (16–31) present in solution. Its useful range is 30 pmol to 2 nmol TnT (16–31)/ml. Quantification of TnT (16–31) in TCA muscle extracts showed that its concentration was enhanced with ageing. Moreover, a correlation between TnT (16–31) levels and meat tenderness was observed. The ELISA developed herein may prove advantageous for future use at the research and industrial level.