In vitro Cell Viability by CellProfiler^® Software as Equivalent to MTT Assay

Area of Science:

• * Cell biology and toxicology
• * Bioanalytical method development

Background:

• * The MTT assay (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) is a standard method for assessing in vitro cell viability.
• * Image analysis offers a potential alternative for cell viability assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• * To evaluate the efficacy of CellProfiler® image analysis in assessing in vitro cell viability.
• * To compare the results of CellProfiler® image analysis with the conventional MTT assay.

Main Methods:

• * Hepatoma (Hepa-1c1c7) and fibroblast (L929) cells were treated with various compounds and extracts.
• * Cell viability was assessed using both the MTT assay and CellProfiler® image analysis.
• * Bland-Altman tests and linear regression (R²) were used to correlate the results from both methods.

Main Results:

• * CellProfiler® image analysis showed comparable results to the MTT assay in identifying viable cells.
• * Cytotoxicity was observed with lycorine, camptothecin, and H. itaobinus extract in both cell lines.
• * No cytotoxicity was detected for several compounds at the highest concentrations tested.

Conclusions:

• * CellProfiler® image analysis is a viable, inexpensive, and reproducible alternative to the MTT assay for in vitro cell viability assessment.
• * Image analysis can effectively assist in biological analysis procedures.
• * The correlation between MTT assay and CellProfiler® image analysis was confirmed using statistical methods.