= Gernot Jundt
{c}
\b[Gernot Jundt] coauthored a 2002 investigation of misleading signals in the <MTT assay>.<Interference of plant extracts, phytoestrogens and antioxidants with the MTT tetrazolium assay by Regina Bruggisser and others>[2002, byline]{ref} His scientific contribution in this collaboration concerned the validity of a commonly used readout of <cell viability>, rather than a claim that every increase in dye formation represented <cell proliferation>.
The study compared <MTT>-dependent <formazan> formation with <crystal violet> staining as a separate assessment of <cell> number.<Interference of plant extracts, phytoestrogens and antioxidants with the MTT tetrazolium assay by Regina Bruggisser and others>[Abstract, comparison of the two measurements]{ref} These measurements need not answer the same biological question: cellular dye conversion can change even when the number of retained <cells> does not.
In an original example, a culture falls from 100 to 80 viable <cells>, while average dye conversion per viable <cell> rises from 1 to 1.5 arbitrary units. Total signal rises from 100 to 120 units despite a 20 percent decline in viable <cell> number. This model needs no direct chemical interference at all. Together with compound-only controls, independent counting helps distinguish a change in <cell> number from a change in signal per <cell>. Neither readout alone identifies the cause of <cell death>.
Back to article page
