Comparison of Different
Methods to Measure Cell
Viability
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Cell Viability
Cell viability is a determination
of living or dead cells, based on
a total cell sample.
01
Drug
Screening
02
Cytotoxicity
Tests of
Chemicals
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Methods
The changes in cell physiology between the viable cell and dying cell are the
base of cell viability assays.
04
Membrane
Integrity
03
Mitochondrial
Function02
Apoptotic
Markers
01
Cellular
Metabolism
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01
Low Repeatability
of The Results
02
The Observed Results
Differ From The Actual
Measurements 03
The Number or Type of
Cells Both Can Influence
The Detection Result
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01 03
02
04
The product is colored or
fluorescent that can be
detected with a plate reader
But the dying cells lose
the conversion ability
Viable cells can convert
the substrate into
product
The signal is directly
proportional to the number of
viable cells present
Tetrazolium
Reduction
Resazurin
reduction
Protease Activity
A
ssays
The detections based on cell membrane
integrity and related dye rejection have
been widely accepted as a standard for
cell viability testing.
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MTT MTS CCK-8 SRB
MTT Tetrazolium
Reduction Assay
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Direct correlation of formazan absorbance with B9 hybridoma
cell number and time-dependent increase in absorbance.
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DisadvantagesAdvantages
•Fewer steps, uses
fewer materials, and
does not carry the
added burden of
radioactive waste
disposal.
•Not suitable for
suspending cells.
•Must be optimized for
seeding amount and assay
duration to obtain
satisfactory results.
•Precipitated protein and
cellular debris present in
the culture plate wells
may interfere with the
optical readings.
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MTS Tetrazolium
Assay
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Approach
For these improved
tetrazolium reagents, the
usual protocol is simply to
add them to the culture
medium and read the
absorption of the reduced
product at an appropriate
time.
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Simple
Operation
More Sensitive
Good Repeatability
CCK-8 (WST-8)
Assay
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Disengages
•The reagents are more expensive
than MTT.
•It isn’t the most convenient method.
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Principle
A: Structures of WST-8
and WST-8 formazan.
B: Principle of the cell
viability detection with
Cell Counting Kit-8.
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Add CCK -8 solution Incubate for 1-4 hours Measure OD at 450nm
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01
One-bottle solution; no premixing of components is required
02
Simple, Rapid and Low Consumed
03
Good repeatability and Nonradioactive
Sulforhodamine B
(SRB) colorimetric
assay
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03 Measure
As the binding of SRB is stoichiometric, the
amount of dye extracted from stained cells can
be used as a proxy for cell mass directly, and the
amount of bound dye is proportional to the cell
mass.
01 Binding
SBR bind to basic amino-acid
residues components of cells under
mildly acidic conditions.
02 Dissociation
The binding will dissociate under basic
conditions. Thus, the amount of bound
dye can be used as a proxy for cell
mass, which can then be extrapolated
to measure cell proliferation.
Dissociation
02
Binding
01
Measure
03
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+ ++ +
Procedure
02
Incubation of
Cells With
Treatment of
Choice
01
Preparation
of
Treatment
03
Cell Fixation
and SRB
Staining
04
Absorbance
Measuremen
t
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Advantages
•SRB staining rarely affected by other compounds interfere which can
remain for a long time.
•The 96-hole cell culture plate at different time points can be
determined at the same time.
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•The application of the SRB assay is limited
to manual or semiautomatic screening due
to the multiple washing and drying steps,
which are not amenable to automation.
•The operation procedure is complicated.
Disadvantages
· Summary
MTT MTS CCK-8 SRB
Solubility Indissolvable Water soluble Water soluble Indissolvable
Detection Wavelength 490nm 450nm 450nm 510nm
Character Solid Liquid Liquid Liquid
Usage
Prepare the
solutions
Use it right after it was
ready
No need to prepare Prepared beforehand
Need to redissolve or notYes, by DMSO No No
Yes, by Tris-base
solution
Convenience ++ +++ +++ +
Detection speed + ++ +++ +
Repeatability + ++ +++ ++
Stability + + ++ +++
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Cell
Viability
BrdUMTS
MTT
CCK-8
SBR
Services & Products
Creative Bioarray offers a wide selection of cell viability assays for
drug screening and cytotoxicity tests of chemicals.
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Contact Us
Creative Bioarray
www.creative-bioarray.com [email protected]