The MTT Assay: Utility, Limitations, Pitfalls, and Interpretation in Bulk and Single-Cell Analysis.

ABSTRACT: The MTT assay for cellular metabolic activity is almost ubiquitous to studies of cell toxicity; however, it is commonly applied and interpreted erroneously. We investigated the applicability and limitations of the MTT assay in representing treatment toxicity, cell viability, and metabolic activity. We evaluated the effect of potential confounding variables on the MTT assay measurements on a prostate cancer cell line (PC-3) including cell seeding number, MTT concentration, MTT incubation time, serum starvation, cell culture media composition, released intracellular contents (cell lysate and secretome), and extrusion of formazan to the extracellular space. We also assessed the confounding effect of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-coated gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) as a tested treatment in PC-3 cel

SUBMITTER: Ghasemi M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8657538 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature