While CellBrite® Cytoplasmic Membrane Dyes can stain formaldehyde-fixed cells, they generally do not give good results in cryosections, possibly because the cell membrane integrity is disrupted, exposing other membrane structures to the dyes. Some customers have reported success using these dyes with vibratome sections.
CellBrite® Cytoplasmic Membrane Dyes are not suitable for membrane staining in FFPE samples as membrane lipids are extracted during the dewaxing and rehydration process. Similarly, acetone or methanol fixation of cryosections will extract lipids, leading to poor staining.
CellBrite® Fix, MemBrite® Fix, and CellBrite® Steady are recommended for use on live cells only. In fixed cells or sections they will label intracellular structures.
In some tissue types, lectins such as CF® Dye WGA Conjugates, CF® Dye Concanavalin A Conjugates, or CF® Dye PNA Conjugates may be useful for staining cell boundaries in FFPE or frozen sections. However, the staining pattern of lectins is highly dependent on cell and tissue type, so we recommend consulting the literature before trying these stains for your tissue of interest.
Alternatively, immunostaining using cell surface-specific antibodies could be done.
So far we have not found a universal plasma membrane stain for tissue sections. This is an application of interest to us and our customers, so we are working to find new solutions.
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