| Description |
In the past, most cell-proliferation studies have used radioactive thymidine as an incorporated label to give evidence of DNA replication. Recently, a less hazardous technique has been developed using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analog, in lieu of a radioactive reagent. (1) BrdU is incorporated into proliferating cells (S-phase) much in the same way as radioactive thymidine, but is then detected by a monoclonal anti-BrdU antibody, and revealed using a highly sensitive streptavidin- biotin staining system. BrdU has proven useful for proliferative studies of normal and neoplastic tissues both in vivo and in vitro.
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