Methods of Analyzing Chromatin Changes Accompanying Apoptosis of Target Cells in Killer Cell Assays

Natural killer (NK) cells kill their targets by inducing two distinct modes of cell death—apoptosis and necrosis (1 –4 ). The end result in both cases is target cell lysis, broadly defined as a loss of membrane integrity and most usually assessed by either chromium release or uptake of certain nonvital dyes such as eosin, trypan blue, or propidium iodide.