Our Cell Meter™ assay kits are a set of tools for monitoring cell viability. There are a variety of parameters that can be used for monitoring cell viability. This particular kit is designed to monitor cell apoptosis through measuring Caspase 3 activation. Caspase 3 is widely accepted as a reliable indicator for cell apoptosis since the activation of caspase-3 (CPP32/apopain) is important for the initiation of apoptosis. Caspase 3 has substrate selectivity for the peptide sequence Asp-Glu-Val-Asp (DEVD). This kit uses Ac-DEVD-AMC as a fluorogenic indicator for caspase-3 activity. Cleavage of AMC peptides by caspase 3 generates strongly fluorescent AMC that is monitored fluorimetrically at 440-460 nm with excitation of 340-350 nm. The kit provides all the essential components with an optimized assay protocol. The assay is robust, and can be readily adapted for high-throughput assays. Using 100 ul of reagents per well in a 96-well format, this kit provides sufficient reagents to perform 200 assays. Using 25 ul of reagents per well in a 384-well format, this kit provides sufficient reagents to perform 800 assays.