A colleague wishes to differentiate between living and dead cells. Does anyone have a simple and reliable method (or if not simple at least reliable).

The cells are from plant cell suspension cultures that have been subjected to various environmental stresses.

Thanks in advance

Ian

Ian Hallett
ihallett@hort.cri.nz

Dear Ian

I have not tried differentiating between living and dead eucaryotic cells, but maybe it would be a good idea to contact Molecular Probes Europe BV. They are selling a number of live/dead fluorescence staining kits for both procaryotic and eucaryotic cells. Molecular Probes Europe BV, 2333 AA Leiden, The Netherlands Phone: +31-71-233378; Fax: +31-71-233419

Stefan
Stefan Andreatta
Stefan.Andreatta@uibk.ac.at

Ian;
You might try staining them with 0.2% Trypan Blue for about 90 seconds, then rinsing with PBS. I found that this technique worked quite well to differentiate between viable and damaged corneal endothelial cells. If you need more info., it was published in the 1992 Proceedings of MSA: "Evaluation of the Biocompatibility of Polymer Surface Modifications with the Corneal Endothelium", R. Citron, et. al.

"Bob Citron"