Does the assay measure caspase activity? What is the advantage or disadvantage to what it measures?
No, the M30-Apoptosense assay does not measure caspase activity. The assay instead measures the amount of accumulated caspase cleavage product. If a researcher needs to know, for example, what the caspase-9 activity is, this product will not work. On the other hand, detection of M30 activity can be measured in cell extracts and cell culture supernatants. The measuring of product is an advantage in some situations since the product will accumulate and therefore give a very high signal.
