title: Caspase-3 activation is a critical determinant of genotoxic stress-induced apoptosis.
abstract: A number of methods have been developed to identify the cells that undergo apoptosis by analyzing the morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes that take place during this universal biological process. The best recognized biochemical hallmark of both early and late stages of apoptosis is the activation of cysteine proteases (caspases). Detection of active caspase-3 in cells and tissues is an important method for apoptosis induced by a wide variety of apoptotic signals. Most common assays for examining caspase-3 activation include immunostaining, immunoblotting for active caspase-3, colorimetric assays using fluorochrome substrates, as well as employing the fluorescein-labeled CaspaTag pan-caspase in situ detection kit.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Biology, Lerner Research Institute, The Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Suparna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mazumder
authors.forename: Dragos
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plesca
authors.forename: Alexandru
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Almasan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D053148:Caspase 3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000502:physiology*; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology; D019793:Fluorescein / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting / Q000379:methods; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053148:Caspase 3; D019793:Fluorescein