https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-026-02215-z
Regular Article
Comparison of the 3H Thymidine assay with other biochemical assays that do not use radioactive isotopes in the study of tumor cell proliferation in-vitro
Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Svetozara Markovica 69, 34000, Kragujevac, Serbia
a
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Received:
29
August
2025
Accepted:
14
February
2026
Published online:
27
February
2026
Abstract
Numerous cellular assays are used to assess the immune system to determine cell proliferation. One of the most widely used assays is based on the application of radioactive isotopes is the incorporation of 3H Thymidine into the DNA of cells indicating of cell proliferation. In addition, there are numerous biochemical assays that do not use radioactive isotopes for evaluation cell proliferation in last period. Correlation between assays with and without the usage of the radioactive isotopes during induction of proliferation of the B cell lymphoma cell line in-vitro has been investigated in this study. The results showed that over time after tumor cell stimulation, there is a significant proliferation of Raji cells. In addition, the Spearman correlation showed that during cell proliferation there was a higher significant positive correlation between the 3H Thymidine incorporation into DNA of cultivated cells with other assay including LDH, SRB and MTT. However, the strength of the correlation is different for individual assays. So, when interpreting the findings, it must always be taken into account that each assay has its own specificities and shows changes in individual parts of the cells, whether it is proliferation or intracellular metabolism that is being examined. It must always be clearly indicated to which part of the cell the data obtained using individual tests refer. In addition the limitations of the used assays must always be taken into account in order to correctly interpret the obtained results.
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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
