CellTiter 96 AQ Assay, like the CellTiter 96 System, measures the conversion of a tetrazolium compound into a formazan product by the mitochondria of living cells. The main difference between the two systems is that the CellTiter 96 AQ System utilizes MTS rather than MTT as the tetrazolium reagent. During the assay, MTS is converted into a soluble formazan product, eliminating the addition of a solubilization solution. Because the final product is soluble, samples may be returned to the incubator for further color development if desired. Yes, the addition of either dye solution can be substituted at the time point in the assay when radioactive thymidine is added.
Assays require less cell manipulations, reducing the possibility of error.
For most tumor cells, hybridomas and fibroblast cell lines, we recommend 5,000 cells per well to initiate proliferation assays, although as few as 1,000 cells per well have been used successfully. Cells with functional mitochondria are needed to convert the tetrazolium dye into their respective reduced forms. Yes, CellTiter 96, CellTiter 96 AQ and CytoTox 96 Systems can be used to study cell death mediated by a cytotoxic agent. For cell-mediated cytotoxicity assays, we recommend the CytoTox 96 Assay System. The amount of color formed is proportional to the number of lysed cells.