Recent Magic Red and FLICA Citations

Magic Red
Xiang Shen, Jeong-Seok Park, Ye Qiu, Joel Sugar, and Beatrice Y J T Yue. Effects of Sp1 overexpression on cultured human corneal stromal cells. Genes Cells, Oct 2009; 14: 1133 – 1139.
...Cathepsin B activity The activity of cathepsin B in transfected cells was detected using the Magic Red cathepsin B kit (Immunochemistry Technologies, Bloomington, MN, USA). Ki-67 staining Transfected cells were fixed in cold methanol and permeabilized. After...

FLICA
Soumika Biswas, Kaushik Biswas, Amy Richmond, Jennifer Ko, Sankar Ghosh, Matthew Simmons, Patricia Rayman, Brian Rini, Inderbir Gill, Charles S. Tannenbaum, and James H. Finke. Elevated Levels of Select Gangliosides in T Cells from Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Is Associated with T Cell Dysfunction. J. Immunol., Oct 2009; 183: 5050–5058.
...and GM2. To study activation of caspases, cells were stained with fluorochrome inhibitors of caspases (FLICA) from Immunochemistry Technologies for 1 h at 37C protected from light, followed by staining with hamster anti-human GM2 Ab. Induction of ROS was determined...

S. Grunewald, C. Kriegel, T. Baumann, H.-J. Glander, and U. Paasch. Interactions between apoptotic signal transduction and capacitation in human spermatozoa. Hum. Reprod., Sep 2009; 24: 2071–2078.
...the appropriate controls according to the kit instructions provided by the manufacturer (Carboxyfluorescein FLICA, Immunochemistry Technologies, Bloomington, MN, USA). A 150-fold stock solution of the inhibitor was prepared in DMSO and further diluted in phosphate...

FAM-FLICA Caspase-1
Unja Martin, John Scholler, Jesse Gurgel, Blair Renshaw, John E. Sims, and Christopher A. Gabel. Externalization of the Leaderless Cytokine IL-1F6 Occurs in Response to Lipopolysaccharide/ATP Activation of Transduced Bone Marrow Macrophages. J. Immunol., Sep 2009; 183: 4021–4030.
...anti-GFP mouse monoclonal from Clontech, and anti-His mouse monoclonal from Roche. Caspase-1 FLICA kit was from Immunochemistry Technologies. Recombinant mcsf-1 and CP-456773 were generated at Amgen. Isolation of murine macrophages C57BL/6 mice were...

Study describes role of Caspase-1 in infection of Chlamydia Trachomatis, use of FAM-YVAD-FMK cited

In the well-crafted study of inflammasome induction following cervical epithelial cell infection, Abdul-Sater et. al. (Inflammasome-Dependent Caspase-1 Activation in Cervical Epithelial Cells Stimulates Growth of the Intracellular Pathogen Chlamydia Trachomatis, J. Biol. Chem 284: 26789-26796, 2009) used ImmunoChemistry Technologies’ FLICA caspase-1 assay kit (catalog #98, FAM-YVAD-FMK) to quantify the percentage of cells containing active caspase-1 following C. Trachomatis infection of HeLa cells. The data show a significant level of caspase-1 activation within 24 hours post-infection evident in 50% of the cultured epithelial cells. The study goes further to illustrate the role of ROS production and K+ efflux in the activation of caspase-1. Specifically, infection by C. Trachomatis leads to a decrease in intracellular K+ levels that causes a rise in ROS production resulting in caspase-1 activation. Furthermore, the study illustrates how subsequent caspase-1 activation after C. Trachomatis infection enhances the infectivity of the pathogen.

Study Reveals Kinetics in Turnover of Young Rat Urothelium, Employing FAM-FLIVO™ for in vivo Apoptosis Detection

The recently published study by Erman et. al. (Apoptosis and Desquamation of Urothelial Cells in Tissue Remodeling During Rat Postnatal Development, J. Histochem. Cytochem. 57(8):721-730, 2009) used ImmunoChemistry Technologies’ FAM-FLIVO reagent (catalog #981) to observe the levels of apoptosis in urothelial cells of the young rat bladder. The study clearly demonstrates the kinetics in turnover of rat urothelium in the early postnatal period (birth to day 14) evidenced by apoptosis, autophagic cell death, and desquamation.

FLIVO and FLICA References

FAM-FLIVO™
Andreja Erman, Dasa Zupancic, and Kristijan Jezernik, Apoptosis and Desquamation of Urothelial Cells in Tissue Remodeling During Rat Postnatal Development. J. Histochem. Cytochem., Aug 2009; 57: 721 - 730.

FAM-FLICA™
Shira D. P. Rabin, Jared G. Flitton, and Donald R. Demuth, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans Cytolethal Distending Toxin Induces Apoptosis in Nonproliferating Macrophages by a Phosphatase-Independent Mechanism. Infect. Immun., Aug 2009; 77: 3161 - 3169.

ImmunoChemistry Technologies Receives Fast Track Grant Award from National Institutes of Health

Bloomington, Minn, September 11, 2009 – ImmunoChemistry Technologies, LLC, announced today that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has approved funding for Phase II of a fast track Phase I/II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant, first awarded to the Company in September 2008. The award of over $640,000 is the second installment of the combined $850,000 grant to develop and test new reagents (FLIVO™) for fluorescence imaging of apoptotic tissues in various animal models of anti-cancer therapy. The work will be done in collaboration with the University of Minnesota.
Read more about our research and FLIVO™ on our website.

ImmunoChemistry Technologies Receives Funding from National Institutes of Health

Bloomington, Minn, September 11, 2009 – ImmunoChemistry Technologies, LLC, announced today that the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded the Company its 2nd year, $250,000 grant under its Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program to develop new reagents for future medical imaging of apoptotic tissues. The work will be done in collaboration with Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.
Read more about our research and our existing FLIVO™ tracers on our website.

Recent Citations using FLICA and Magic Red

Cutting Edge: NF-B Activating Pattern Recognition and Cytokine Receptors License NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation by Regulating NLRP3 Expression
Franz G. Bauernfeind, Gabor Horvath, Andrea Stutz, Emad S. Alnemri, Kelly MacDonald, David Speert, Teresa Fernandes-Alnemri, Jianghong Wu, Brian G. Monks, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Veit Hornung, and Eicke Latz
J. Immunol., Jul 2009; 183: 787 - 791.
...the caspase-1 carboxyfluorescein-YVAD-fluoromethylketone FLICA (fluorescent labeled inhibitors of caspases) kit (Immunochemistry Technologies) was used to stain active caspase-1. CD14-positive cells were analyzed for FLICA positivity by flow cytometry. The...

The nucleolar RNA methyltransferase Misu (NSun2) is required for mitotic spindle stability
Shobbir Hussain, Sandra Blanco Benavente, Elisabete Nascimento, Ilaria Dragoni, Agata Kurowski, Astrid Gillich, Peter Humphreys, and Michaela Frye
J. Cell Biol., Jul 2009; 186: 27 - 40.
...fluorochrome inhibitor of caspases (FLICA) apoptosis detection kit was used as per the manufacturers instructions (Immunochemistry Technologies). FLICA probe, which covalently binds to activated caspases, was incubated with cells for 1 h, and cells were washed...

Sulforaphane targets pancreatic tumour-initiating cells by NF-B-induced antiapoptotic signalling
G Kallifatidis, V Rausch, B Baumann, A Apel, B M Beckermann, A Groth, J Mattern, Z Li, A Kolb, G Moldenhauer, P Altevogt, T Wirth, J Werner, P Schemmer, M W Büchler, A V Salnikov, and I Herr
Gut, Jul 2009; 58: 949 - 963.
...FAM-Asp(OMe)-Glu(OMe)-Val-Asp(OMe)-fluoromethylketone (FLICA) was used according to the manufacturers protocol (Immunochemistry Technologies, Bloomington, Minnesota, USA). FLICA binds covalently to specific active caspases (thus the fluorochrome accumulates...

ATP-induced osteoclast function: the formation of sealing-zone like structure and the secretion of lytic granules via microtubule-deacetylation under the control of Syk
Ryoichi Hazama, Xiujuan Qu, Kunio Yokoyama, Chisato Tanaka, Emi Kinoshita, Jinsong He, Shusuke Takahashi, Kaoru Tohyama, Hirohei Yamamura, and Yumi Tohyama
Genes Cells, Jul 2009; 14: 871 - 884.
...Osteolytic granules were labeled with LysoTracker Red (Invitrogen) and Magic Red cathepsin K detection kit (Immunochemistry Technologies, Bloomington, MN, USA). Cathepsin K detection kit was also used to quantify the released enzyme activity in the...

Six New Citations using ICT's Kits

Biological Significance of Prolactin in Gynecologic Cancers
Vera V. Levina, Brian Nolen, YunYun Su, Andrew K. Godwin, David Fishman, Jinsong Liu, Gil Mor, Larry G. Maxwell, Ronald B. Herberman, Miroslaw J. Szczepanski, Marta E. Szajnik, Elieser Gorelik, and Anna E. Lokshin
Cancer Res., Jun 2009; 69: 5226 – 5233
...and by analysis of caspase activation using Fluorescent Poly-Caspases FLICA Apoptosis Detection kit FAM-VAD-FMK (Immunochemistry Technologies) as previously described (17). Multiplex analysis of phosphoproteins. Analysis of phosphoproteins was performed... ...

Culling of Activated CD4 T Cells during Typhoid Is Driven by Salmonella Virulence Genes
Aparna Srinivasan, Minelva Nanton, Amanda Griffin, and Stephen J. McSorley
J. Immunol., Jun 2009; 182: 7838 – 7845
...was detected by flow cytometry using the FLICA apoptosis detection kit according to the manufacturer's instructions (Immunochemistry Technologies). Results Depletion of activated Salmonella-specific T cells in mice infected with live bacteria Several...

Deficiency of the DNA repair enzyme ATM in rheumatoid arthritis
Lan Shao, Hiroshi Fujii, Inés Colmegna, Hisashi Oishi, Jörg J. Goronzy, and Cornelia M. Weyand
J. Exp. Med., Jun 2009; 206: 1435 – 1449
...Particles to quantify cell numbers. Cell apoptosis was detected by caspases 3 and 7 SR FLICA kits (ImmunoChemistry Technologies), and rates of apoptotic cells were quantified through PI staining (Sigma-Aldrich). Comet assay. DNA damage was... ...

Farnesol-Induced Apoptosis in Candida albicans
Mark E. Shirtliff, Bastiaan P. Krom, Roelien A. M. Meijering, Brian M. Peters, Jingsong Zhu, Mark A. Scheper, Megan L. Harris, and Mary Ann Jabra-Rizk
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., Jun 2009; 53: 2392 - 2401.
...mitochondrial permeability transition detection kit (Immunochemistry Technologies, LLC, Bloomington, MN) according to the manufacturers...microscopically using FLICA apoptosis detection kits (Immunochemistry Technologies, LLC) according to the manufacturer's recommendation... ...

Impairment of APE1 Function Enhances Cellular Sensitivity to Clinically Relevant Alkylators and Antimetabolites
Daniel R. McNeill, Wing Lam, Theodore L. DeWeese, Yung-Chi Cheng, and David M. Wilson, III
Mol. Cancer Res., Jun 2009; 7: 897 – 906
...red fluorescence above 600 nm. Apoptosis was measured using the poly-caspases FLICA apoptosis detection kit from Immunochemistry Technologies, LLC. The kit uses an inhibitor sequence of caspases (VAD, which reacts with all caspases) linked to a green (carboxyfluorescein... ...

Phenotypic and Functional Changes Induced in Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells After Gamma-Ray Radiation ExposureArthur J. Simonnet, Johnny Nehmé, Pierre Vaigot, Vilma Barroca, Philippe Leboulch, and Diana Tronik-Le Roux
Stem Cells, Jun 2009; 27: 1400 - 1409
...for another 15 minutes at 37C and immediately analyzed by flow cytometry. Apoptosis Assay A caspase 3/7 FLICA Kit, Immunochemistry Technologies, LLC, Bloomington, MN, http:www.immunochemistry.com, was used according to the manufacturer's protocol...

Welcome to ICT's Blog

Based in Bloomington, Minnesota, ICT is one of the world's leading suppliers of unique in vivo and in vitro tools critical for discovering promising investigational medicines for treating life threatening illnesses.

Our fluorescent enzyme detection probes are used to assess apoptosis and cell death in cultured cells. ICT's specialty in vitro probes detect caspases, cathepsins, serine proteases, cholinesterase enzymes, and assess mitochondrial health. We also manufacture proprietary probes that can detect dead and dying cells in living organisms in vivo for research use. In the future, these probes may be used to better manage disease and personalize treatment. ICT's in vivo probes may be used to assess the efficacy of chemotherapy, to quantify neurodegeneration, and as an early detector of eye disease, among other applications.

ICT is also a contract research laboratory specializing in custom ELISA development, manufacturing, and testing services. As an out-growth of these services, ICT offers a specialty line of ELISA buffers and stabilizers to researchers developing in-house assays.