Measurement Methods of Cell Proliferation and a Comparison of Various Commercial Proliferation Kits

Abstract

© 2013 Turkish Journal of Immunology. All rights reserved. Determination of cell proliferation rate is the key to understand the basic parameters of tumor biology. It requires a comparative analysis of proliferation assays. Current cell proliferation assays can be classified in four main groups based on deoksiribonükleik asit (DNA) synthesis, metabolic activity, proliferation markers and ATP content. DNA synthesis-based cell proliferation assays mainly use radioactive (3H thymidine) or fluorescent (BrdU, EdU, etc.) thymidine analogues; thus, cell proliferation can be monitored through incorporation of thymidine into newly synthesized DNA. Metabolic activity-based proliferation tests are usually relies on the utilization of tetrazolium salts such as WTS and MTT by cells. Proliferation marker-based assays mainly use antibodies against proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and phospho histone H3, in particular. ATP-based tests are another alternative for determination of cell proliferation, which rely on the increased ATP content in the population of the cells. In this article, various commercial proliferation kits were compared to assist to the life science researchers and the subject-related clinical researchers for experiment design. In addition, these tests were compared in comprehensive tables according to different parameters including their costs.