Viable Colonies
Viable Colonies - Related Videos
06:44
Keratinocyte Colony Formation Assay: An In Vitro Assay to Assess the Ability of Keratinocytes to Grow into Colonies
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2023
In this video, we perform a clonogenic assay of keratinocytes harvested from adult mice to determine the ability of individual cells to proliferate and form colonies. This keratinocyte harvesting technique is useful for studying other downstream aspects of cutaneous chemical carcinogenesis and tumor promotion.
04:11
Colony Formation Assay: Assessing the Efficacy of Anticancer Agents on Colony-Forming Lung Cancer Cells
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2023
This video describes the colony formation assay, which helps determine lung cancer cells' ability to proliferate indefinitely and form individual colonies. We can analyze the effect of an anticancer agent on the colony-forming cells by analyzing the changes in the number and/or size of the resulting colonies.
02:30
Assessing Root Colonization of Tomato Seedlings by a Pathogenic Bacterium Using Viable Cell Counts
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2026
Source: Matthysse, A. G. Adherence of Bacteria to Plant Surfaces Measured in the Laboratory. J. Vis. Exp., (2018)This video demonstrates a protocol for measuring root colonization of tomato seedlings by wild-type and cellulose-deficient pathogenic bacteria. Viable counts of tightly adhering bacteria show greater adhesion and microcolony formation by the wild-type strain, highlighting cellulose’s role in stable root colonization.
05:26
Mechanical Dissociation: A Method to Obtain Viable Cells from a Tissue
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2023
This video describes the non-enzymatic dissociation of fresh human tissue to obtain viable cells. The technique is used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of CD45 positive cells (lymphocytes/leukocytes) present in various normal and malignant human tissues.
08:10
Capture and Release of Viable Circulating Tumor Cells from Blood
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Cited by 2 •
2016
A protocol to utilize a poly(N-iso-propylacrylamide) (PIPAAm) coated microfilter for effective capture and thermoresponsive release of viable circulating tumor cells (CTC) is presented. This method allows capture of CTC from patients' blood and subsequent release of viable CTC for downstream off-chip culture, analyses and characterization.
FAQs
They assess whether surviving cells retain the capacity to reproduce repeatedly, rather than recording survival at only one time point. This clonogenic readout distinguishes cells that remain reproductively competent from those that survive treatment without generating a lasting population. Consequently, the assay can reveal treatment effects that short-term survival measurements may not capture.
Colony formation depends on the defined culture conditions in which cells are maintained. Differences in those conditions can affect whether surviving cells proliferate enough to become detectable populations. For this reason, comparisons between treatments or experimental groups are most informative when the culture context is held consistent, allowing changes in colony number or size to be related to the tested variable.
Colony number provides a measure of how many cells retain sufficient reproductive capacity to establish detectable populations, whereas colony size reflects the extent of proliferation among those cells. Examining both outcomes can therefore distinguish reduced colony initiation from limited expansion. Together, these measurements help characterize treatment responses and cellular properties linked to cancer progression.
Researchers first expose cancer cells to a treatment or isolate a cell population, then maintain the cells under defined culture conditions that permit surviving cells to proliferate. After colonies become detectable, they quantify colony number and, when relevant, colony size. Results are compared across experimental conditions to evaluate changes in clonogenic capacity.
The method supports direct comparison of untreated and treated cancer-cell populations after exposure to chemotherapy, radiation, or targeted agents. A reduction in colony number or size indicates diminished reproductive capacity under the tested condition. These measurements provide a functional assessment of treatment efficacy and can help compare how different interventions affect long-term cancer-cell expansion.
Cells that continue forming colonies after treatment identify a population that retains reproductive capacity under that condition. Comparing these populations across experiments can help researchers investigate mechanisms associated with treatment resistance. Because clonogenic potential also relates to tumorigenic potential and cancer progression, the results can contribute to studies of recurrence and persistent disease-associated cell behavior.