Triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC), or simply tetrazolium chloride (with the formula 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride) is a

redox indicator A redox indicator (also called an oxidation-reduction indicator) is an indicator which undergoes a definite color change at a specific electrode potential. The requirement for fast and reversible color change means that the oxidation-reduction Ch ...

commonly used in biochemical experiments especially to indicate

cellular respiration Cellular respiration is the process of oxidizing biological fuels using an inorganic electron acceptor, such as oxygen, to drive production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which stores chemical energy in a biologically accessible form. Cell ...

. It is a white crystalline powder, soluble in water,

ethanol Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol, with its formula also written as , or EtOH, where Et is the ps ...

and

acetone Acetone (2-propanone or dimethyl ketone) is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula . It is the simplest and smallest ketone (). It is a colorless, highly Volatile organic compound, volatile, and flammable liquid with a charact ...

but insoluble in ether.

TTC assay

In the TTC assay (also known as TTC test or tetrazolium test), TTC is used to differentiate between metabolically active and inactive tissues. The white compound is enzymatically reduced to red TPF (1,3,5-triphenylformazan) in living tissues due to the activity of various dehydrogenases (enzymes important in oxidation of organic compounds and thus cellular metabolism), while it remains as white TTC in areas of necrosis since these enzymes have been either denatured or degraded. For this reason, TTC has been employed in autopsy pathology to assist post-mortem identification of myocardial infarctions. Healthy viable heart muscle will stain deep red from the cardiac lactate dehydrogenase; while areas of potential infarctions will be more pale. Note: TTC is somewhat heat and light unstable, so avoid these environments as much as possible. Ttc

Bibliography

Difco TTC Solution 1%

Chlorides Redox indicators Tetrazoles {{aromatic-stub

TTC assay

See also

Bibliography