All living cells use cyclic nucleotides as second messengers for signal sensing and transduction. Cyclic di-3′,5′-adenosine monophosphate (c-di-AMP) is primarily involved in the control of bacterial and euryarcheal osmoadaptation and is produced by diadenylate cyclases from two molecules of ATP. Specific phosphodiesterases hydrolyze c-di-AMP to the linear phosphoadenylate adenosine 5′-pApA or to AMP. Different methods including high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and ion exchange chromatography (IEX) can be used to determine activities of c-di-AMP-synthesizing and degrading enzymes. Here, we describe in detail the TLC and IEX methods adapted for characterization of the diadenylate cyclase DisA and the phosphodiesterase AtaC from

Lipid droplets store triacylglycerols (triglycerides) and sterol esters to regulate lipid and energy homeostasis. Triacylglycerol measurement is often performed during the investigation of lipid droplet formation and growth. This protocol describes a reliable method using a fluorometric lipid quantification kit to measure triacylglycerols extracted from HeLa cells, which were treated with oleic acid to trigger the formation of lipid droplets. The lipid quantification kit employs a lipid-binding molecule that emits bright fluorescence only when bound to extracted triacylglycerols, whose content can be quantified by a simple fluorescence readout.