A rapid, multiwell colorimetric assay for chemotaxis

This paper describes a colorimetric assay for the rapid quantification of chemotaxis in multiple samples. In this assay, cells that have migrated through polycarbonate membrane filters are collected onto the bottom wells of a chemotaxis chamber after centrifugation then the number of viable cells collected in the bottom well is quantified by measurement of the reduction of 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenol tetrazolium bromide (MTT). The degree of MTT reduction, which corresponds to the relative cell number, is measured automatically with an ELISA reader. The MTT method of quantitation is as sensitive as the standard manual method, is especially useful for large numbers of samples and requires no specialized laboratory equipment.