Cytochemical methods for the detection of apoptosis

Detection of apoptotic cell death in cells and tissues has become of paramo unt importance in many fields of modern biology, including studies of embry onic development, degenerative disease, and cancer biology. In addition to methods that employ biochemical analysis of large populations of cells, cyt ochemical methods have recently been extensively used both in individual ce lls and in tissues. Most of these methods exploit properties of dying cells that are more or less specific for the apoptotic process. However, conside rable confusion exists over the interpretation of some of these methods and their usefulness in all settings. This review attempts to summarize the mo re recent advances in cytochemical detection of apoptosis and emphasizes so me of the pitfalls that confuse the interpretation of results of these meth ods.