Lipophilic carbocyanine dyes like CellBrite® Cytoplasmic Membrane Dyes may stain tissue slices or organotypic cultures, but due to their lipophilicity, they probably will not penetrate through multiple cell layers in a thick tissue slice. The dyes have been used for cell tracing in organoids and labeling hydrogel cultures. However, for this application, usually the cells are labeled before they are placed in organoid culture or embedded in hydrogel.
This class of dyes have been widely used for neuronal tracing in organisms, tissue slices, Drosophila embryos, and chicken embryos by microinjection or spot-labeling with crystals of solid dye. Neuronal tracing also can be done in formaldehyde-fixed tissues or embryos.
See our Tech Tip: Researching Applications for Membrane Dyes for more information and selected references.
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