Apoptosis

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a highly regulated pathway that is important in normal developmental processes as well as many diseases. Cells undergoing apoptosis are identifiable by a number of characteristics, including changes in mitochonrial membrane potential, transport of phosphatidylserine (PS) to the membrane surface, activation of caspase proteases, and DNA fragmentation in the nucleus. Guava offers four assays to assess these markers of early-, mid- and late-stage apoptosis:

• Annexin V binding (Guava Nexin® Assay)
  
• Multiple caspase activity (Guava® MultiCaspase Assay)
  
• Caspase 3/7 or 8 Activation (Guava® Caspase 3/7 and 8 Assays)
  
• DNA strand breakage (Guava® TUNEL Assay)
  
• Changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (Guava® Mitochondrial Depolarization Assay)

Optimized for use on Guava Systems and requiring only micro-volume cell samples, these assays provide superior discrimination between apoptotic and non-apoptotic cells. When used together, the Guava Assays provide detailed profiles of cell populations in various stages of apoptosis. The no-wash, mix-and-read Guava Mitochondrial Depolarization and Guava Nexin Assays can be especially powerful for rapid screening in 96-well microplates.

Each assay uses proprietary Guava Software and reagent kits optimized for use on Guava Systems.