Cell Health Assay Kit #13837

Measures of cell viability and cytotoxicity are broadly used to study the effects of growth factors and cytokines, inhibitors and activators, and immune response signals. Many viability and toxicity assay kits (such as XTT, resazurin, and BrdU cell kits) monitor the presence or viability of live cells by measuring the metabolic conversion or incorporation of a substrate into cellular molecules. Assay kits that measure dead or dying cells usually rely on the activity of apoptotic enzymes (i.e. caspase-3) or the intracellular release of an enzyme or molecule indicative of cell death (i.e. cytochrome c, LDH). The Cell Health Assay Kit is able to stain both live and dead cells simultaneously by using two fluorescent probes. After treating cells with a combination of Calcein-AM and Propidium Iodide, live cells will produce strong green fluorescence while dead cells produce strong red fluorescence (1,2). These fluorescent signals can be detected using multiple methods, including a plate reader or scanner, flow cytometer, or fluorescent microscope. This dual assay is specifically designed to assess viability and toxicity for eukaryotic cells (1,2), but may also be used to assay some bacteria or yeasts (3,4).