Background Information
Widely used methods to determine apoptosis include the analysis of the genomic DNA by agarose-gel electrophoresis and DNA fragmentation assays based on 3H-thymidine and, alternatively, 5-Bromo-2'-deoxy-uridine. The methods involve the separation of fragmented, low molecular weight DNA from unfragmented, high molecular weight DNA in a given cell population. Thus, these methods do not provide information about the fate of an individual cell in a given cell population, or particularly, in tissue sections. Alternatively, individual apoptotic cells may be microscopically recognized because of the characteristic appearance of nuclear chromatin condensation and fragmentation, but this method is subjective and limited to a relatively narrow time window when the morphological changes are at a maximum.
The hallmark of apoptosis is DNA degradation, which in early stages, is selective to the internucleosomal DNA linker regions. The DNA cleavage may yield double-stranded and single-stranded DNA breaks (nicks). Both types of breaks can be detected by labeling the free 3'-OH termini with modified nucleotides (e.g., biotin-dUTP, DIG-dUTP, fluorescein-dUTP) in an enzymatic reaction. The enzyme terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) catalyzes the template-independent polymerization of deoxyribonucleotides to the 3'-end of single- and double-stranded DNA. This method has also been termed TUNEL (TdT-mediated dUTP-X nick end labeling). Alternatively, free 3'-OH groups may be labeled using DNA polymerases by the template-dependent mechanism called nick translation. However, the TUNEL method is considered to be more sensitive and faster. 
Benefits
Convenient: No secondary detection system required
Accurate: Identification of apoptosis at a molecular level (DNA-strand breaks) and identification of cells at the very early stages of apoptosis
Flexible: TMR red allows secondary labeling with, for example, fluorescein-labeled cell markers
Product Description
Sample material: Cells in suspension, cytospin and cell smear preparations, adherent cells grown on slides, and frozen and paraffin-embedded tissue sections.
Application
Precise, fast, and simple technique for detecting and quantitating apoptotic DNA fragmentation at a single-cell level in cells and tissues with a red fluorescent label for fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.