Previous studies have shown that red light can prevent apoptosis in human pigmented retinal cells. Researchers are examining the biological pathways of red light to determine if other substances that are nitric oxide donors can induce the same effects. Methanol is an apoptosis inducer. This experiment aims to determine which concentration of methanol would induce apoptosis. Cells were treated with methanol solutions at concentrations of 100%, 60%, 20% and 5%. The Invitrogen Click-iT Tunel Alexa Fluor 488 Imaging Assay was used to identify cells undergoing apoptosis. Results of the experiment showed that methanol at all measured concentrations induced apoptosis. 100% of cells incubated at both 5 min and 15 min underwent apoptosis. This experiment will be repeated for confirmation and future studies will explore if another apoptosis inducer, raptinol, will yield results similar to that of methanol.
