New apoptosis detection kit for monitoring chromatin condensation

Oct 7 2009

Enzo Biochem, Inc.’s (NYSE:ENZ) Enzo Life Sciences division today announced the addition of a new apoptosis detection kit for monitoring chromatin condensation to its rapidly expanding CELLestial™ product line for live cell analysis.

Enzo showcased the capabilities of the new assay in a scientific poster presentation entitled “Monitoring Apoptotic Nuclear Condensation Using Fluorescence Microscopy, Flow Cytometry and Microplate-based Instrumentation Platforms”, at the prestigious 8^th Cell Death Conference which just commenced at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. The presentation demonstrated that blue-fluorescent small molecule compounds, such as camptothecin, strongly interfere with nuclear condensation measurement based upon Hoechst dye but do not impact Enzo’s Nuclear-ID™ Green assay.

Enzo’s Nuclear-ID™ Green Chromatin Condensation System provides a rapid and convenient assay for one of the more prominent hallmarks of late-stage apoptosis, nuclear condensation. The Nuclear-ID™ Green dye is a novel 488 nm-excitable green-emitting fluorescent probe that is capable of detecting drug-induced DNA condensation in live cells. The easy-to-use, no wash, mix-and-read protocol differentiates between healthy cells and apoptotic cells with condensed nuclei. The system is compatible with all instruments capable of monitoring FITC or GFP.

“Our Nuclear-ID™ Green Chromatin Condensation Kit is a major breakthrough for the rapid screening of agents that induce apoptotic cell death, which is potentially useful in identifying compounds for the treatment of diseases such as cancer," said Wayne Patton, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Enzo Life Sciences. "The Nuclear-ID™ Green reagent provides customers with the ability to rapidly analyze apoptosis on a variety of common instrument platforms without investing in expensive ancillary equipment, such as violet lasers.”

Using flow cytometry, nuclear condensation is detected as the population of cells with 40-fold enhanced brightness relative to healthy counterparts with the novel assay. Potential applications for live-cell studies using the kit include monitoring the stages of chromatin condensation, rapid testing of compounds that induce apoptosis, and as a quick test to determine the health status of cells grown in culture.