*2.9. Cell Viability and Proliferation*

Cell viability was monitored using the Cell Proliferation Reagent WST-1, with OD450 nm being proportional to the number of cells [25,44,45]. Cell proliferation was provided as a direct index [44,45]. Cell viability percentage [25] was calculated as:

Cell viability (%) = (absorbance of the sample/absorbance of the negative control) × 100

All measurements were performed using a GENios spectrophotometer/fluorometer (Tecan).
