- Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC): The appearance of phosphatidylserine (PS)

residues (normally hidden within the plasma membrane) on the surface of the cell is an early
event in apoptosis and can be used to detect and measure apoptosis.
During apoptosis, PS is translocated from the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane to the
cell surface. Annexin V has a strong, Ca2+-dependent affinity for PS and therefore can be used
as a probe for detecting apoptosis.
- PI(propidium iodide): based on the principle that apoptotic cells, among other typical features,
are characterized by DNA fragmentation and loss of nuclear DNA content. Use of a
fluorochrome, such as PI, that is capable of binding and labeling DNA makes it possible to
obtain a rapid and precise evaluation of cellular DNA content by flow cytometric analysis.

- Annexin V-FITC conjugated protein binds to cell surfaces expressing phosphatidylserine, an

early apotosis marker. Cells stained with propidium iodide (PI), a non-cell-permeable DNA dye,
indicate necrotic cells. Cells stained with both PI and annexin V-FITC demonstrate later stage
apoptosis and early necrosis.
- The MTT assay is a colorimetric assay for measuring cell metabolic activity. It is based on the
ability of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-dependent cellular
oxidoreductase enzymes to reduce the tetrazolium dye MTT to its insoluble formazan, which has
a purple color.
- Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assays have long been used to detect DNA synthesis
in vivo and in vitro. The key principle of this method is that BrdU incorporated as a thymidine
analog into nuclear DNA represents a label that can be tracked using antibody probes.
- Lentiviral vectors in gene therapy is a method by which genes can be inserted, modified, or
deleted in organisms using lentivirus. Lentivirus are a family of viruses that are responsible for
notable diseases like AIDS, which infect by inserting DNA into their host cells' genome.
- A short hairpin RNA or small hairpin RNA (shRNA/Hairpin Vector) is an artificial RNA
molecule with a tight hairpin turn that can be used to silence target gene expression via RNA
interference (RNAi)
- Phosphoinositide 3-kinases (PI3Ks), also called phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases, are a family of
enzymes involved in cellular functions such as cell growth, proliferation, differentiation,
motility, survival and intracellular trafficking, which in turn are involved in cancer.
- Protein kinase B (PKB), also known as Akt, is a serine/threonine-specific protein kinase that
plays a key role in multiple cellular processes such as glucose metabolism, apoptosis, cell
proliferation, transcription, and cell migration.
- Autophosphorylation is a type of post-translational modification of proteins. It is generally
defined as the phosphorylation of the kinase by itself. In eukaryotes, this process occurs by the
addition of a phosphate group to serine, threonine or tyrosine residues within protein kinases,
normally to regulate the catalytic activity. Autophosphorylation may occur when a kinases'
own active site catalyzes the phosphorylation reaction (cis autophosphorylation), or when
another kinase of the same type provides the active site that carries out the chemistry (trans
autophosphorylation). The latter often occurs when kinase molecules dimerize. In general, the
phosphate groups introduced are gamma phosphates from nucleoside triphosphates, most
commonly ATP.
- Since Hoechst can readily cross cell membranes to stain DNA of living and dead cells, it was
used to label the total number of cells. In contrast, PI only enters cells with compromised plasma
membranes, thus selectively labeling dead cells.