MTT Test and Time-lapse Microscopy to Evaluate the Antitumor Potential of Nucleoside Analogues.

Background/aim: Conventional viability tests, help to screen the cellular effects of candidate molecules, but the endpoint of these measurements lacks sufficient information regarding the molecular aspects. A non-invasive, easy-to-setup live-cell microscopic method served to in-depth analysis of mechanisms of potential anticancer drugs.
Materials and Methods: The proposed method combining the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) test with time-lapse scanning microscopy (TLS), provided additional data related to the cell-cycle and the dynamic properties of cell morphology. Apoptotic and necrotic events became detectable with these methods.
Results: Quantification of the results was assisted by image analysis of the acquired image sequences. After demonstrating the potential of the TLS method, a series of experiments compared the in vitro effect of a known and a newly synthesized nucleoside analogue.
Conclusion: The proposed approach provided a more in-depth insight into the cellular processes that can be affected by known chemotherapeutic agents including nucleoside analogues rather than applying repeated individual treatments.
(Copyright© 2021, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)