FD NeuroApop™ Kit is specifically designed for the detection of neuronal apoptosis in tissue sections from the central nervous system based on the principle of in situ DNA nick-end labeling (TUNEL) technique¹. The assay uses terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase to catalyze the incorporation of biotinylated deoxyuridines onto the free 3′-hydroxyl termini of DNA fragments, which are considered one of the most characteristic features of apoptosis^{2, 3}. The integrated biotins are amplified and visualized with the avidin-biotin-complex (ABC) method⁴, enabling light microscopic identification.

The reagents and procedure of FD NeuroApop™ Kit have been optimized to achieve a high degree of both specificity and sensitivity for detecting apoptotic neurons with the lowest background. This kit can be used with frozen and paraffin sections, as well as cultured cells (cf. photo samples below).  The procedure of the kit takes approximately 4 hours.

Kit contents:

Part I (Store at -20°C)

• Digestive Enzyme                                    2 ml x 4
• Reaction Solution A                                 2 ml x 2
• Reaction Solution B                                 85 µl
• Reaction Solution C                                 60 µl
• Chromogen Solution                                20 ml

Part II (Store at 4°C)

• Equilibration Buffer                                   20 ml
• Detection Reagent                                    5 ml
• 10x Phosphate-Buffered Saline             250 ml x 2

Materials required but not included:

• Double distilled water
• Humidified chamber
• Incubator or waterbath (30°C)
• Histological supplies and equipment, including microscope slides, glass coverslips, staining jars, fine-tipped forceps, ethanol, xylenes or xylene-substitutes, mounting medium, and a light microscope.