Description
In many cell types, apoptosis is characterized by the generation of DNA fragments through the action of endogenous endonucleases. The DNA of apoptotic cells is cleaved into multimers of 180–200bp fragments, corresponding to the oligonucleosomal size. Therefore, the DNA of apoptotic cells typically migrates as a ladder of 180-200bp multimers on an agarose gel. The exposed 3'-OH of the broken DNA can be catalyzed by Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT) with fluorescein labeled dUTP, which can be detected with fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometer. Elabscience® One-step TUNEL Assay Kit applies a highly sensitive, fast and simple method to detect DNA fragmentation in situ