ttc can be converted to insoluble red formazan by the activity of
Tetrazolium chloride 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 in its unreacted state in areas of necrosis since these enzymes have either denatured or degraded.
Carnitine Many eukaryotes have the ability to synthesize carnitine, including humans. Humans synthesize carnitine from the substrate TML (6-N-trimethyllysine), which is in turn derived from the methylation of the amino acid lysine. TML is then hydroxylated into hydroxytrimethyllysine (HTML) by trimethyllysine dioxygenase, requiring the presence of ascorbic acid. HTML is then cleaved by HTML aldose, yielding 4-trimethylaminobutyraldehyde (TMABA) and glycine. TMABA is then dehydrogenated into gamma-butyrobetaine, in an NAD+-dependent reaction, catalyzed by TMABA dehydrogenase. Gamma-butyrobetaine is then hydroxylated by gamma butyrobetaine hydroxylase into L-carnitine, requiring iron in the form of Fe2+.[6]