earticle

영어

Zinc protoporphyrin (ZnPP) is produced endogenously during heme metabolism and treated in cells as a heme oxygenase inhibitor. In the present study, the effects of ZnPP on the color response of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5- diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, a commonly-used method for analyzing cell viability, were investigated. ZnPP induced rapid decolorizaion of MTT formazan under light; the degradation rates were 10- and 20- folds faster in the presence of 5 and 10 μM ZnPP, respectively. Methylene blue (MB), another type of photosensitizer, also accelerated degradation of formazan under light. Butylated hyroxytoluene did not inhibit ZnPP- or MB-induced formazan degradation. The color degradation of formazan dye was signficantly delayed in the presence of N-acetylcysteine or β-carotene. The present results suggest that certain photosensitizing compounds may affect the color and stability of MTT formazan, which should be carefully considered when conducting the MTT assay.