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#314 Cell Biology Complete

MTS viability: HeLa + doxorubicin (9-pt dose)

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cell-viability MTS-assay doxorubicin HeLa cytotoxicity
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This template captures an MTS-based cytotoxicity assay of doxorubicin against HeLa cervical carcinoma cells in a 96-well format, generating a 9-point dose-response curve and EC50 estimate.

Goal: measure the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin (anthracycline DNA-intercalator) on proliferating HeLa cells over a log-scale 9-point dose range (10 µM → 1.5 nM, 3-fold serial dilution), with 4 replicate wells per dose, and extract EC50, Hill slope, and assay window (Z’) for QC.

Method overview: 5,000 HeLa cells seeded per well in 100 µL DMEM + 10% FBS in a Corning 96-well flat-bottom plate, 24 hours pre-treatment. Doxorubicin diluted from 10 mM DMSO stock in growth media to 2× working concentrations, with vehicle control matched at 0.1% DMSO. 100 µL of 2× drug added to wells for 1× final concentration. 24 hours treatment at 37°C / 5% CO₂. 20 µL CellTiter 96 AQueous One Solution (MTS + PES) added per well, incubated 4 hours, absorbance read at 490 nm on plate reader. Blank-subtracted viability calculated relative to vehicle control wells. 4PL fit performed in GraphPad Prism.

Expected: Sigmoidal dose-response with EC50 in the 0.3-0.6 µM range for HeLa (published range), Hill slope 1.0-1.8, R² > 0.99, Z’ > 0.5. Background < 0.1 A490; vehicle-control viability normalized to 100%; high-dose viability < 10%.

Last saved: 34 seconds ago
12 fields loaded from MTS Cell Viability baseline (SOP v1.4)
Cells
Cell line
select
HeLa, MCF7, A549, HCT116, primary culture
Seed density
number
5000cells/well
Pre-treatment time
number
24h
Compound
Compound
text
Doxorubicin
High dose
number
10µM
Dilution factor
number
3
Dose points
number
9
Replicates
number
4
Treatment time
number
24h
Readout & QC
Readout
select
MTS, AlamarBlue, CellTiter-Glo, trypan blue
EC50
number
0.41µM
Z′-factor
number
0.82
plate_layout.pdf
224 KB
reader_A490_raw.csv
18 KB
dose_response_4PL.xlsx
92 KB
01
Trypsinize HeLa stock + count: 4.8 × 10⁵ cells/mL in DMEM+10%FBS
95% viability by trypan blue
0:10
02
Seed 100 µL/well = 5,000 cells/well in inner 60 wells, outer rows H₂O
0:15
03
Incubate plate 24 h at 37°C / 5% CO₂
24:00
04
Prepare doxorubicin 9-point 3-fold dilution series in media (2× final)
High 20 µM → low 3 nM (2×)
0:15
05
Add 100 µL of 2× drug to wells, vehicle-only to control wells (0.1% DMSO)
0:10
06
Incubate plate 24 h at 37°C / 5% CO₂
Treatment 24 h
24:00
07
Add 20 µL CellTiter 96 AQueous One per well, swirl gently
0:03
08
Incubate 4 h at 37°C / 5% CO₂
Color develops to orange-brown
4:00
09
Read A490 on plate reader; export CSV
BioTek Synergy H1 · run 06:04:14:32
0:03
10
Calculate blank-subtracted viability + 4PL fit in Prism, extract EC50 + Z'
EC50 0.41 µM · Z' 0.82 · R² 0.998
0:25
A B C D E F G
1 Dose (µM) Rep 1 Rep 2 Rep 3 Rep 4 Mean A₄₉₀ % Viability
2 10 0.121 0.118 0.115 0.122 0.119 5
3 3.3 0.140 0.135 0.142 0.138 0.139 8
4 1.1 0.226 0.218 0.232 0.221 0.224 22
5 0.37 0.508 0.512 0.495 0.519 0.509 50
6 0.12 0.788 0.795 0.781 0.792 0.789 80
7 0.041 0.872 0.879 0.865 0.880 0.874 88
8 0.014 0.925 0.918 0.931 0.924 0.924 93
9 0.0045 0.948 0.939 0.951 0.945 0.946 95
10 0.0015 0.962 0.955 0.968 0.959 0.961 97
11 vehicle 0.992 1.005 0.985 1.000 0.996 100
12 blank 0.072 0.068 0.074 0.070 0.071
CellTiter 96 AQueous One Solution (MTS + PES)
G3580 · Lot 0000465812
In stock
Doxorubicin HCl (10 mM in DMSO)
D1515 · Lot SLBR9421A
In stock
DMSO (cell culture grade, vehicle ctrl)
D2650 · Lot SLBT8847A
In stock
DMEM + GlutaMAX (high glucose)
10566016 · Lot 2722164
In stock
FBS, heat-inactivated (HI-FBS)
16140071 · Lot 2722084
Low
Doxorubicin stock + 10× working aliquots
-20 °C · Freezer C-2 · Drawer 1 · Box CPD-DOX-2026
×8
CellTiter 96 reagent (5 mL working)
-20 °C protected from light · Freezer C-2
×2
Plate reader raw data + Prism workbook
Cloud · /viability/2026-06/DOX-001/
×3
Visibility
Chen LabJ. Chen
Can write
J. ChenDr. M. Liu




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