Literature Digest: Cross-talk and Photoconversion: Assessing the Performance of DAPI and Hoechst Nuclear Stains

Sign up to our eNewsletter to download our Literature Digest: Cross-talk and Photoconversion: Assessing the Performance of DAPI and Hoechst Nuclear Stains

DAPI and Hoechst dyes are widely used for nuclear counterstaining in fluorescence imaging workflows due to their high specificity for DNA and ease of use. However, these blue dyes have broad emission spectra that can bleed into other channels. Cross-talk is further exacerbated by photoconversion, a chemical process that changes a fluorophore’s spectral properties, leading to misinterpretation of results. Additionally, the short excitation and emission wavelengths of DAPI and Hoechst are problematic with deep tissue imaging.

In this literature digest, we highlight several publications that observe issues inherent to DAPI and Hoechst staining.