Patent ID: 8187573

Claim:
An in vivo diagnostic method for determining the presence or absence of a disease of the eye characterized by the presence of apoptosis, comprising detecting the presence of at least one cell permeant caspase affinity labeling agent in cells of the eye of an animal into which the at least one cell permeant caspase affinity labeling agent has been introduced, wherein the presence or absence of the at least one cell permeant caspase affinity labeling agent correlates with the presence or absence of the disease of the eye, wherein the disease of the eye is glaucoma, macular degeneration, or proliferative retinopathy, wherein the caspase affinity labeling agent is a compound of formula I: L 1 -A 1 -X 1 —NH—CH(R 1 ′)C(═O)CH 2 F (I) wherein: L 1 is a detectable group; A 1 is a direct bond or a linker; X 1 is absent, an amino acid, or a peptide; and R 1 ′ is an aspartic acid side-chain, an ester of aspartic acid, an aza-peptide epoxide modification of the aspartic acid, an aza-peptide Michael acceptor, an aldehyde modification of the aspartic terminal carboxyl group, a chloromethyl ketone group, a fluoromethyl ketone group, OPh, or an acyloxy reactive group.