NC-3000™ Vitality Assay
For easy detection of changes in the cellular level of reduced thiols
TOTAL ASSAY TIME LESS THAN ONE MINUTE!
The vitality assay provides easy determination of the level of thiols, such as reduced glutathione (GSH). GSH is the most abundant low molecular weight thiol in animal cells; thus its oxidation status largely determines the thiol-disulfide status of the cell by thiol-disulfide interchange reactions. GSH is involved in many cellular processes including quenching of free radicals, drug detoxification, cell signaling, and cell proliferation. The decrease in cellular GSH concentration is an early hallmark in the progression of cell death in response to different apoptotic stimuli in many cell types.
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Using fluorescence microscopy and image analysis, the NC-3000 system automatically profiles the level of reduced thiols in a cell population. Cells are mixed with a solution containing VitaBright-48™, which stains viable cells in an intensity-dependent manner. Thus, a high fluorescence intensity of a particular cell indicates that the cell has a high level of thiols. A fluorescence intensity histogram showing the thiol level distribution in the cell population is automatically displayed after the analysis. By comparing histograms of treated cells to controls, the fraction of cells with low vitality (e.g. apoptotic or stressed cells) can be determined.
Key benefits
- Extremely easy assay for evaluation of cellular health, oxidative stress and indirect detection of apoptosis
- Automated detection of changes in the level of reduced thiols
- Total assay time less than one minute
- Acquisition and analysis at the single cell level in one simple step
- User friendly protocol with predefined settings
- Standardized results – even with different users
- No calibration required