This kit provides a rapid assay for nuclear condensation, a prominent hallmark of apoptosis.A highly permeable green-emitting dye for enhanced detection of apoptosis-induced chromatin condensation.

The Nuclear-ID® Green Chromatin Condensation Detection Kit detects nuclear condensation using a DNA intercalating dye that brightly stains the condensed chromatin of apoptotic cells, but only dimly stains the uncondensed chromatin of healthy living cells.

The cell-permeable dye used in this application is an aromatic, planar cationic structure that inserts between stacked base pairs on the DNA duplex, providing an environmentally-dependent fluorescence enhancement of the dye molecules and large increases in fluorescence signal relative to the free dye in solution. Since the signal enhancement provides a proportional response, direct quantitation of DNA is possible.

Further signal increase is observed upon DNA condensation during apoptosis. Considering the general mutagenic effect of nucleic acid-binding dyes, careful storage and handling of this dye is recommended.