MTT

Description: MTT (also known as Thiazolyl Blue; Thiazolyl Blue Tetrazolium Bromide; Methylthiazolyldiphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) is a colorimetric agent that is widely used to measure cell proliferation. MTT is reduced from yellow color to purple formazan in living cells. MTT is used in conjunction with rhodamine B to measure mitochondrial membrane potential. MTT-formazan is generated in mitochondria acts as a fluorescence quencher for rhodamine that distributes across membranes of viable cells according to membrane potential. In the absence of mPMS, cellular reduction of MTT is strong. MTT is membrane-impermeable when incorporated into large unilamellar liposomes, and therefore it is taken up by cells via endocytosis.

References: Biotechnol Annu Rev. 2005; 11:127-52.