ABSTRACT
Aim To compare high-content cell imaging system and other methods in detecting cell proliferation, including the traditional thymidine ( 3H-TdR) incorporation method, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium ( MTT ) method and cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) method. Methods The fibroblast-like synovial cells (FLS) were used as the study object to observe the sensitivity and stability of FLS proliferation in different methods by using the usual proliferative stimulant tumor necrosis factor-α ( TNF-α) and the known proliferation inhibitor methotrexate at different concentrations. Results The 3H-TdR method and high-content cell imaging could detect a significant inhibitory effect of 1 nmol ·L-1 MTX on FLS cell proliferation, MTT assay and CCK-8 method could detect the significant inhibitory effect of 10 nmol· L-1 MTX on FLS cell proliferation. 3H-TdR method was found to have a large degree of discretization in the data set, with a standard deviation of 32.61% ~61.36% , and the MTT method was 11.9% ~ 17.8% , the CCK-8 method was 17.15% ~32.88% , and the high-content cell imaging system method was 12.66% ~26.54%. Conclusion The method of high-content cell imaging system is more accurate and stable for detecting cell proliferation.