Myo-inositol is a six‑carbon sugar that is essential for the growth of mammalian cells and must be obtained through either extracellular uptake or de novo biosynthesis. The physiological importance of myo-inositol stems from its incorporation into phosphoinositides and inositol phosphates, which serve a variety of signaling, regulatory, and structural roles in cells. To study myo-inositol metabolism and function, it is essential to have a reliable method for assaying myo-inositol levels. However, current approaches to assay myo-inositol levels are time-consuming, expensive, and often unreliable. This article describes a simple new myo-inositol bioassay that utilizes an auxotrophic strain of S. cerevisiae to measure myo-inositol concentration in solutions. The accuracy of this method was confirmed by comparing assay values to those obtained by tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). It is easy to perform, inexpensive, does not require sophisticated equipment, and is specific for myo-inositol.

肌醇是一种六碳糖，对哺乳动物细胞的生长至关重要，必须通过细胞外摄取或从头生物合成获得。肌醇的生理重要性源于其与磷酸肌醇和肌醇磷酸盐的结合，它们在细胞中发挥多种信号传导、调节和结构作用。为了研究肌醇代谢和功能，必须有一种可靠的方法来测定肌醇水平。然而，目前测定肌醇水平的方法耗时、昂贵且通常不可靠。本文介绍一个简单的新myo-肌醇生物测定法，利用酿酒酵母的营养缺陷型菌株来测量溶液中的肌醇浓度。该方法的准确性通过将测定值与串联质谱 (LC-MS/MS) 获得的值进行比较来确认。它易于操作、价格低廉、不需要复杂的设备，并且是针对肌醇的。