What does cell viability mean?

What does cell viability mean?

Cell viability is a measure of the proportion of live, healthy cells within a population. Cell viability assays are used to determine the overall health of cells, optimize culture or experimental conditions, and to measure cell survival following treatment with compounds, such as during a drug screen.

How does the MTS assay work?

The MTS assay protocol is based on the reduction of the MTS tetrazolium compound by viable mammalian cells (and cells from other species) to generate a colored formazan dye that is soluble in cell culture media. The formazan dye is quantified by measuring the absorbance at 490-500 nm.

What is MTT assay used for?

The MTT assay is used to measure cellular metabolic activity as an indicator of cell viability, proliferation and cytotoxicity.

What is good cell viability?

A good cell viability is anywhere between 80-90% in most of the cell lines.

What is the difference between cell viability and proliferation?

Viability and proliferation are two distinct characteristics of cells. Viability is a measure of the number of living cells in a population whereas proliferation is a measure of cell division. It should be noted that not all viable cells divide.

What MTT means?

MTT. Mean Transit Time (brain tissue blood flow)

How do I analyze MTT results?

To calculate a viability assay like MTT, do the following:

1. make an average of a few “empty” wells that contain your MTT solution but *no* cells.
2. substract your background control from step 1 from all the measurements for this plate.
3. calculate an average for your control (=healthy cells with 100% viability).

Is MTT a good assay?

The MTT compound (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) is soluble in culture medium and cell permeable. The amount of absorbance correlates with viable cell number. MTT assays are rarely the best choice for estimating the number of viable cells in vitro.