Toxic effects of resazurin on cell cultures.
Resazurin, introduced as a cell viability indicator under the trade name alamarBlue(®), is generally regarded as nontoxic when used according to manufacturer's suggested shorter-term incubation time specifications. However, problems arise when exposure times are extended to longer-term cultures on the order of days. To assess the effect of resazurin over longer incubation times, MCF7 (HTB-22), MCF10A (CRL-10317), 3T3-L1 (CL-173), and D1 (CRL-12424) cultures were tested with varying amounts of resazurin over 4- and 8-day periods. MCF7, 3T3-L1, and D1 cells cultured for 8 days with 20 % alamarBlue(®) had significantly less cell survivability. Specifically, levels of metabolic activity, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) concentration, and glucose consumption of the cell lines cultured for 8 days in medium with 20 % alamarBlue(®) were significantly lower (p < 0.05) than metabolic activity, DNA concentration, and glucose consumption of MCF7 cells cultured for 8 days in medium with no alamarBlue(®). MCF7, 3T3-L1, and D1 cells used less glucose at concentrations as low as 5 %. Data also suggests the toxic effects are more pronounced in the cancerous cell line as compared to the noncancerous cells.
Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA.
Richard Thomas
RT
Pace
Karen Jane Leadbetter
KJ
Burg