Assay Time: 2.5-3 hours
Test Principle: When cells undergo apoptosis, specific DNA endonucleases will be activated, cutting the genomic DNA between the nucleosomes. 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 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 flow cytometry.