Methylthiazoletetrazolium

Solubility in 2-methoxyethanol, 20 mg/mL; ethanol, 20 mg/mL

Solubility in water, 10 mg/mL

SRP: The most favorable course of action is to use an alternative chemical product with less inherent propensity for occupational exposure or environmental contamination. Recycle any unused portion of the material for its approved use or return it to the manufacturer or supplier. Ultimate disposal of the chemical must consider: the material's impact on air quality; potential migration in soil or water; effects on animal, aquatic, and plant life; and conformance with environmental and public health regulations.

KB cells were treated with MTT at final concentrations up to 0.2 mg/ml alone or in combination with methotrexate (10 and 32 uM). When used alone, as little as 0.025 mg/ml increased population doubling time from 26 hr (control) to 96 hr. At 0.2 mg/ml or higher, total cell number declined. MTT, 0.1 mg/ml, reduced the number of cells in S and G2/M phases after 8 hr treatment. However, no significant effect was seen at 2 and 4 hr. The effect of 0.2 mg/ml MTT was more immediate and more pronounced, resulting in accumulation of cells in G0/G1 and S phases. MTT in combination with methotrexate produced a more significant perturbation in the KB cell cycle.

...Phenazine methosulfate (PMS) and MTT are often used in combination: however, PMS did not potentiate the mutagenicity of MTT.

/GENOTOXICITY/ Tetrazolium salts, in combination with phenazine methosulfate (PMS) are widely used laboratory reagents. PMS, and 3 tetrazolium salts (MTT, [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide]; TTC,[2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride]; and NBT, [2,2'-di-p-nitrophenyl-5,5'-diphenyl-3,3'-(3,3'-dimethoxy-4,4' were tested for mutagenicity in a range of Escherichia coli WP2 (trp-) and Salmonella typhimurium ... . Without S-9, PMS was mutagenic to E. coli uvrApKM101 /and/ S. typhimurium TA 100 and TA 98 giving (in the dose range 0.5-10 ug/plate) linear dose response curves with slopes of 2.3, 1.3 and 0.5 revertants/nmol respectively. Addition of /rat liver/ S-9 drastically reduced the mutagenicity of PMS in these bacteria. MTT, in the absence of S-9, was mutagenic to E. coli uvrApKM101, S.typhimurium TA 100 and TA 98, giving linear dose-response curves with slopes of 3.8, 12.1 and 1.0 respectively, at doses ranging from 0.5 to 10 or 50 ug/plate. Addition of S-9 markedly reduced the mutagenicity of MTT. MTT was very weakly mutagenic in E. coli WP2 (0.22 revertants/nmol), significantly more mutagenic in WP2 uvrA (1.29 revertants/nmol), and non-mutagenic in WP2 lexA (negative slope due to toxicity), suggesting that MTT causes excisable misrepair DNA damage. PMS and MTT are often used in combination: however, PMS did not potentiate the mutagenicity of MTT.

Tetrazolium salts are used for the detection of dehydrogenase activity or any other enzyme systems where redox equivalents are generated. Due to this feature, they are an extremely useful tool in academic and clinical research as well as for many diagnostic applications, eg: (1) aids and cancer research, cell and molecular biology: for testing cell proliferation and cell viability and for cytotoxicity tests (2) Enzyme diagnostics and clinical chemistry: for the assay of dehydrogenase activity and other enzyme systems which form redox equivalents; for the determination of dehydrogenase substrate concentrations; for the detection of glucose, ethanol, glycerol and other substrates which develop redox equivalents in a coupled reaction (3) Immuno histochemistry: for the detection of alkaline phosphatase (4) Histology and pathology: for the histochemical detection of dehydrogenase (5) In seed nurseries: for testing seed viability.

Tetrazolium salts are widely used for detecting redox potential of cells for viability, cytotoxicity and proliferation assays. ... Reduction of MTT remains the most common assay for tetrazolium salt-based viability testing.

Tetrazolium salts for detecting redox potential in living cells and tissues: 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide. Applications: superoxide generation by fumarate reductase and nitric oxide synthase; mitochondrial dehydrogenase activity; cell viability and proliferation; neuronal cell death; platelet activation; tumor cell adhesion and invasion; multidrug resistance; in vitro toxicity testing /from table/

The MTT assay is frequently used in anti-HIV and antineoplastic drug screening for the evaluation of cell survival and proliferation.

For more Uses (Complete) data for METHYLTHIAZOLETETRAZOLIUM (6 total), please visit the HSDB record page.

The MTT assay is simple, accurate and yields reproducible results. This method has been developed originally by Mossman in 1983. The key component is (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]- 2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) or MTT. Mitochondrial dehydrogenases of viable cells cleave the tetrazolium ring, leading to the formation of purple crystals which are insoluble in aqueous solutions. The crystals are re-dissolved in acidified isopropanol and the resulting purple solution is measured spectrophotometrically. An increase or decrease in cell number results in a concomitant change in the amount of formazan formed, indicating the degree of cytotoxicity caused by the test material (IC50).