The transformed cells can proliferate without attaching to surface. Anchorage independent cell growth is the hallmark of cell transformation. The Soft-Agar Assay is a traditional method for screening cell transformation in vitro. However, this method is lengthy (3-4 weeks incubation), laborious (counting colonies) and inconsistent (due to subjective counting). Assay Genie's Cell Transformation Assay is faster, stable, and more sensitive than the traditional soft-agar assay. The kit is based on the conversion of the tetrazolium salt (WST-8) to formazan by cellular mitochondrial dehydrogenases. The generated signal is directly proportional to the number of living cells. This one-step method is non-radioactive and simple (just add-and-read, does not require harvesting cells, and solubilization steps). The assay is high-throughput adaptable and has wide linear range from 10000-400000 cells. The entire Cell Transformation Assay can be finished within 7-8 days.

Figure: A. HeLa Cell Dose Curve. B. Equal number of 3T3 and HeLa cells are seeded for Cell Transformation Assay. After 6 days, the cell numbers were measured. Standard and Samples readings were taken 4 hours after adding WST working solution C. Image of HeLa cell colonies. HeLa cells were cultured for 6 days according to the kit protocol.