Apoptin-associating protein and its use in the detection the presence of cancer cells

摘要

An isolated or recombinant nucleic acid encoding an apoptin-associating proteinaceous substance capable of providing apoptosis, or functional equivalent or functional fragment thereof is disclosed. Apoptosis is an active and programmed physiological process for eliminating superfluous, altered or malignant cells, which is characterised by shrinkage of cells, segmentation of the nucleus, condensation and cleavage of DNA into domain-sized fragments, in most cells followed by internucleosomal degradation.