DeadEnd™ Colorimetric TUNEL System

The DeadEnd™ Colorimetric TUNEL System provides the reagents to perform terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) of fragmented nuclear DNA to assess apoptosis in situ at the single-cell level in tissue sections or cultured cells. Biotinylated nucleotide is incorporated at the 3´-OH DNA ends of the fragmented DNA using Terminal Deoxynucleotidyl Transferase (TdT). Horseradish-peroxidase-labeled streptavidin (Streptavidin HRP) is then bound to these biotinylated nucleotides, which are detected using the stable chromogen, diaminobenzidine (DAB). Using this procedure, apoptotic nuclei are stained dark brown and visualized by light microscopy.

Features and Benefits

• Detects apoptosis in thick tissue sections or assess cell morphology.

• Assay includes DAB reagent for color detection and plastic coverslips that simplify sample handling.

• Proven applications include Vibratome® sections of neuronal tissue, Jurkat cells, HL-60 cells.

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.