Determination of eight amino acids in mice embryonic stem cells by pre-column derivatization HPLC with fluorescence detection.

A precise, accurate, and selective pre-column derivatization HPLC method with fluorescence detection was validated and used for the determination of amino acids (proline, valine, methionine, isoleucine, leucine, tryptophan, phenylalanine, and lysine) in mice embryonic stem (ES) cells. The cell sample was derivatized by dansyl chloride, and the analytes were separated on a C(18) column. The method provided good reproducibility and sensitivity for the quantification of the eight analytes with average recovery factors of less than 107.43% and higher than 91.25%, respectively. Intra-day precision was between 2.0% and 4.9%, and inter-day precision was between 2.9% and 6.0%. The %RSD values for repeatability were below 8.8. This assay can be readily utilized as a precise, sensitive, and highly accurate quality-control method for amino acids in mice ES cells.