DeadEnd™ Fluorometric TUNEL System

The DeadEnd™ Fluorometric TUNEL System is a classic TUNEL Assay designed for the specific detection and quantitation of apoptotic cells within a cell population. This system measures nuclear DNA fragmentation, an important biochemical hallmark of apoptosis in many cell types, providing simple, accurate and rapid detection of apoptotic cells in situ at the single-cell level or in cell suspensions. The DeadEnd™ Fluorometric TUNEL System measures the fragmented DNA of apoptotic cells by catalytically incorporating fluorescein-12-dUTP at 3´-OH DNA ends using Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT), which forms a polymeric tail using the principle of the TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP Nick-End Labeling) assay. The fluorescein-12-dUTP-labeled DNA can then be visualized directly by fluorescence microscopy or quantitated by flow cytometry.

 Features and Benefits

• System provides sufficient reagents for 60 assays of 50μl each and saves money.
• Direct incorporation of fluorescent nucleotide reduces number of incubation steps.
• Use to detect apoptosis in cultured cells and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections.
• Plastic coverslips provided simplify sample handling.

Note: The protocol for the DeadEnd™ TUNEL Assay recommends an optional DNase I treatment of samples as a positive control to detect DNA fragmentation. RQ1 RNase-Free DNase (Cat.# M6101) can be used to generate the positive control and is available separately.

For more information, see the Apoptosis Section of the Protocols & Applications Guide.