CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Assay Technical Bulletin

Literature # TB288

The CellTiter-Glo® Luminescent Cell Viability Assay is a homogeneous method to determine the number of viable cells in culture based on quantitation of the ATP present, which signals the presence of metabolically active cells. The CellTiter-Glo® Assay is designed for use with multiwell plate formats, making it ideal for automated high-throughput screening (HTS), cell proliferation and cytotoxicity assays. The homogeneous assay procedure involves adding a single reagent (CellTiter-Glo® Reagent) directly to cells cultured in serum-supplemented medium. Cell washing, removal of medium or multiple pipetting steps are not required.

The homogeneous "add-mix-measure" format results in cell lysis and generation of a luminescent signal proportional to the amount of ATP present. The amount of ATP is directly proportional to the number of cells present in culture, in agreement with previous reports. The CellTiter-Glo® Assay generates a "glow-type" luminescent signal, produced by the luciferase reaction, which has a half-life of greater than five hours. This extended half-life eliminates the need for reagent injectors and provides flexibility for continuous or batch-mode processing of multiple plates. The unique homogeneous format reduces pipetting errors that may be introduced during the multiple steps required by other ATP measurement methods.