Analyzing Apoptosis in Cultured Epithelial Cells

This chapter will outline a number of assays in use in the authors′ laboratory for the quantification of apoptosis in cultured mammary epithelial cells. These assays are each directed at particular stages of apoptosis, which are outlined below. There are a number of commercial assays available, utilizing such reagents as fluorescent caspase substrates, which determine an average level of apoptosis throughout a population of cells. However, we find a considerable use for assays that identify individual apoptotic cells, and it is chiefly these that will be described here.