MTT Formazan 

MTT Formazan is a purple water-insoluble product formed by the reduction of yellow soluble MTT by succinate dehydrogenase in the mitochondria of viable cells. The amount of MTT Formazan produced is proportional to cellular metabolic activity, and it can serve as an indicator for evaluating cell viability and proliferation. MTT Formazan exhibits solvent-dependent solubility properties, and its absorbance value can be measured by spectrophotometry to reflect cellular status. MTT Formazan also supports the assessment of cell viability in bacterial MTT assays. MTT Formazan can be used in photoacoustic microscopy to enhance the imaging effect of viable cells, especially in applications in the fields of three-dimensional cell culture and tissue engineering^[1][2].

MTT Formazan (1×10⁹ cells/mL; 1-24 h) is generated by co-incubation of Staphylococcus aureus with MTT (HY-15924). When dissolved in DMF buffered with 5% SDS or DMSO buffered with 5% SDS, MTT Formazan exhibits a stable linear correlation with cell density for at least 24 h within the range up to 1×10⁹ cells/mL, with high detection reproducibility^[1].
MTT Formazan is produced by co-incubating NIH/3T3 fibroblasts with MTT, and its absorbance value increases linearly with cell density within the range of 3.125×10³ to 1.156×10⁵ cells/cm²; when dissolved with DMSO, the peak absorbance reaches 1.31 at a cell density of 1.156×10⁵ cells/cm^2[2].

MedChemExpress (MCE) has not independently confirmed the accuracy of these methods. They are for reference only.

335.43

C₁₈H₁₇N₅S

57360-69-7

Solid

Brown to black

CC1=C(C)N=C(N/N=C(C2=CC=CC=C2)/N=N/C3=CC=CC=C3)S1

Room temperature in continental US; may vary elsewhere.

* Please refer to the solubility information to select the appropriate solvent. Once prepared, please aliquot and store the solution to prevent product inactivation from repeated freeze-thaw cycles.
Storage method and period of stock solution: -80°C, 6 months; -20°C, 1 month. When stored at -80°C, please use it within 6 months. When stored at -20°C, please use it within 1 month.

• [1]. Benov L, et al. Improved Formazan Dissolution for Bacterial MTT Assay. Microbiol Spectr. 2021;9(3):e0163721.  [Content Brief]

  [2]. Gasque K C S, et al. Cell density and solvent are critical parameters affecting formazan evaluation in MTT assay[J]. Brazilian archives of Biology and Technology, 2014, 57: 381-385.