Coined in the 1960's,apoptosis is derived from the Greek word apopiptein which means to fall off from. Apoptosis can be induced by a number of stimuli including UV damage, irradiation, drug treatment, or tumor necrosis factor. Once induced, apoptosis can, in turn, act through a number of different cell death signaling pathways.

The number of apoptosis and 'programmed cell death' related kits and reagents available to the market have increased significantly over the last few years. This is in large part the result of increasing evidence implicating the role of apoptosis in a number of significantly relevant disease processes including certain autoimmune diseases, transplantation rejection, and neurodegenerative diseases. IMGENEX offers over 200 Apoptosis related antibodies, as well as ELISA kits, caspase inhibitors, active caspase detection kits, apoptosis detection kits, and mitochondrial permeability detection kits.