cell number for colony formation - HEK293, NIH3T3 (Jun/29/2011 )

Hi everybody,

I have a basic question. I am doing the colony formation assay using HEK293 or NIH3T3 cells. How many cells (HEK293 or NIH3T3) should I seed for this assay? I have tried 3000 HEK293 cells in a well of a 6-well plate, but that was too many...
Thanks.

Well, less than 3000 obviously - I would try 500-1000. You may want to try conditioning the medium too.