Abstract
A rapid colorimetric assay has been applied to functional studies of monkey lymphocytes such as mitogen-induced blastogenesis, complement-dependent cytotoxicity, interleukin 2, and interferon assays, in which a tetrazolium dye is reduced to a formazan salt by viable cells but not by dead cells, accompanying with color change from yellow to purple. The amount of formazan dye generated is easily read on a ELISA reader and is directly proportional to the number of viable target cells, depending on the degree of cell activation. This assay has several advantages over conventional methods with respects to rapidity, precision and no requirement of radioisotopes.
