Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide
CAS:
Ref. 3D-T-3450
Product Information
- Methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide
- 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide
Thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide, also called 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide and methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide, and mainly known as MTT, is employed in the so-called MTT reduction or colorimetric assay. The MTT assay is used to determine the metabolic activity of living cells and the viable cell number in proliferation and cytotoxicity studies. The assay is based on the enzymatic reduction of the yellow MTT to the purple-blue water-insoluble formazan catalysed by mitochondrial dehydrogenases of living cells. The amount of formazan produced is directly proportional to the number of viable cells and can be quantified by measuring absorbance at 570nm. The MTT assay is broadly employed in cell biology because it is rapid and economical. MTT is also used as enzyme substrates in studies of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP)-dependent dehydrogenases.