Proliferation Assays
Measure DNA synthesis directly with EdU kits for imaging or flow cytometry, or track cell number with CCK-8/WST-8 and MTT.
EdU is incorporated into newly synthesised DNA and detected with a fluorescent dye. Kits are available in green (FITC, AF488) and red (AF594, AF647).
The same chemistry formatted for flow cytometry, so S-phase cells can be counted across a whole population.
Tetrazolium-based plate-reader assays that follow the number of metabolically active cells over time.
EdU assays measure DNA synthesis in individual cells, so they report true proliferation and work with imaging or flow cytometry. CCK-8/WST-8 and MTT measure metabolic activity across the well, which makes them fast and well suited to screening, but they do not separate slower growth from cell death.
EdU is a thymidine analogue incorporated into DNA during S phase. It is detected by a click reaction with a fluorescent dye, without the DNA denaturation that BrdU needs.
Pick the dye that fits a free channel on your microscope or cytometer: green (FITC or AF488) or red (AF594 or AF647).
CCK-8/WST-8 gives a water-soluble product and needs no solubilisation step, while MTT forms insoluble formazan that must be dissolved before reading.