Chapter 24 Difficulties and pitfalls in analysis of apoptosis

Publisher Summary Flow cytometry has become the preferred methodology for analysis of apoptosis both in the research environment as well as in clinical settings. This chapter discusses the most common errors in measurement of apoptosis as well as the frequent mistakes in the analysis and interpretation of the data. There are certain issues associated with the inappropriate use of flow cytometry in the analysis of apoptosis. The common pitfalls and inappropriate uses of the methodology are apparent. Some of these problems are generic to most of the methods: they generally pertain to data interpretation, in particular how the frequency of apoptotic cells (apoptotic index) relates to the incidence of cell death in cultures or in tissue. Other problems are specific to particular methods or cell systems.