Comparison of the colony formation and crystal violet cell proliferation assays to determine cellular radiosensitivity in a repair-deficient MCF10A cell line

Colony formation as measured by the in vitro clonogenic assay is a very important endpoint to determine cellular radiosensitivity and tumor response to radiotherapy. In the framework of assessing in vitro cellular radiosensitivity, proliferation assays could represent an attractive alternative to the clonogenic assay for cell lines that do not form proper colonies. In the present study, we compared cellular radiosensitivity measurements obtained by the crystal violet (CV) cell proliferation assay and the standard colony formation assay in repair-deficient and-proficient human MCF10A cell lines. Compared to the clonogenic assay, the CV cell proliferation assay yielded higher surviving fractions for the same radiation dose. This is reflected in larger mean inactivation dose values – a parameter that reflects the area under the survival curve. However, as the dose modifying factors obtained by both assays are comparable, the CV cell proliferation assay can be used to compare the in vitro cellular radiosensitivity of cell lines that lack the ability to form well-defined colonies.