Promega develops new assay to test cytotoxicity levels

Promega Corporation says its new assay is more flexible than alternatives.

A new assay developed by Promega Corporation is capable of improving cytotoxicity reports from cell cultures gathered within 72 hours.

The analytic procedure allows for flexible kinetic analyse so as to determine the onset of cytotoxicity - the process by which a substance becomes toxic to cells.

CellTox Green Cytotoxicity Assay uses a special cyanine dye that acts as a fluorescent marker which is incapable of penetrating live cells but can create a strong binding with DNA from dead cells.

In this way, it can produce a clear signal, the strength of which is directly proportional to a substance's cytotoxicity. The dye is photostable and non-toxic to mammalian cells, offering extended application in laboratory work as a result.
Promega said: " The CellTox Green dye is easily multiplexed with luminescent or other fluorescent cell-based assays with an add-mix-measure protocol to provide more informative data per well.

"The assay reagent is also easily automated and scalable for use in 96-well to 1536-well formats. This assay is ideal for determining the cytotoxic effects of various treatments on cells in culture following long-term exposure."