The Acridine Orange Viability Test Applied to Bone Marrow Cells I. Correlation with Trypan Blue and Eosin Dye Exclusion and Tissue Culture Transformation

Suspensions of murine bone marrow cells were stained with acridine orange (A-O) and observed under fluorescent microscopy after treatment with various injurious agents in order to establish the staining characteristics of "live" and "dead" cells. The percentage of viable cells demonstrated by the "A-O viability test" were correlated with eosin and trypan blue dye exclusion and tissue culture transformation viability tests. In general, the A-O test demonstrated the viability of cells preserved by freezing as effectively as the other in vitro tests. In addition, the A-O test may be more sensitive in determining the viability of cells where metabolic processes have been injured by poisons or change in pH.