Michael Eccles Author Answered Sep 5, 2012
Department of Pathology, University of Otago, New Zealand
answer:
in our experience, different cell lines require different incubation times. If HUVEC naturally have high endogenous galactosidase, the pH of the incubation buffer will be critical. If you see blue cells ONLY in the treatment known to induce senescence, then 6 hours might be better, assuming this time point is in the linear range of the senescence development. Having a positive control will be important (e.g. using very late passage cells that have stopped dividing).
hope this helps.