|
Introduction:
The ability to culture cells in vitro is central to
virtually all aspects of modern biological research.
-
Proliferation of cells is
usually assessed for each culture
-
Determining
the viability of a population of cells is key to maintaining healthy
cultures, and for testing the effect of agents like hormones, toxins,
drugs…
A number of
technologies have been developed to monitor both cell viability and
proliferation. Now you have UptiBlue!
Since the early
1900s, biological researchers have used the vital stain trypan blue to
differentiate between live cells and those that are dead or dying. Trypan
blue easily diffuses across the cell membrane of dead or dying cells, but
cannot cross the membranes of live cells.
Tritiated
thimidine method, based on the incorporation ot H3-thymidine into DNA during
cell growth, was also found very useful. However, the use of radioelement
causes expensive and safety drawbacks for operating and disposal.
Many
immunocytochemical based technics were developped, for membrane markers like
annexinV, or nuclear markers (BRDU). They are usefull for several specific
applications, but for classic proliferation assays and screeneing are found
tedious, long to perform, or poorly quantitative.
Formazan dyes
(MTT, XTT) were introduced: have proven to be very useful, and are well used
in labs. These dyes are however toxic for the user, with safety and disposal
concerns, and toxic to the cells, impeaching long-term studies.
Uptima offers a unique reagent
for proliferation and viability assay, UptiBlue, that is used commonly to
check cell culture health, and for screening (cell activity or toxicity
studies with drugs). It overcomes popular techniques, notably MTT and
radioactivity, in many applications, while allowing new ones !
|
