Abstract
MTT assay is a colorimetric method for measuring the activity of enzymes in living cells that reduce MTT to formazan dyes, giving a purple color. It is commonly used to determine cytotoxicity of potential medicinal agents and toxic materials, since these types of materials are expected to stimulate or inhibit cell viability and growth. Here, a general protocol is described to carry out an MTT assay on different types of cells.
Keywords: MTT assay, Cell numbers, Drug
Materials and Reagents
Equipment
Procedure
Acknowledgments
This work was funded by 5050 project by Hangzhou Hi-Tech District, Funding for Oversea Returnee by Hangzhou City, ZJ1000 project by Zhejiang Province. This protocol was developed in the Cohen Lab, Department of Genetics, Stanford University, CA, USA [Chen et al. (unpublished)].
References
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It depends on the cell size, growth rate and treatment time. Usually we let the cells reach 50%-80% confluence before the treatment if the treatment time is within 1 day.