Cell & Organelle Stains

DiO, also called DiOC₁₈(3), is a green fluorescent, lipophilic carbocyanine dye that is widely used as a lipophilic tracer.

DiOC₁₄(3) is a DiO derivative, but is more soluble in aqueous media than the latter because it has shorter hydrocarbon chains. Also see our ready-to-use CellBrite™ Cell Membrane Labeling Solutions.

DiOC16(3) is a green fluorescent lipophilic cyanine dye with two C16 hydrocarbon chains that can be used to stain cytoplasmic membranes.

DiOC₂(3) (3,3′-Diethyloxacarbocyanine, iodide) has been used for measuring membrane potentials in bacteria. The green fluorescent dye forms red fluorescent aggregates with increasing membrane potential.

DiOC5(3) and DiOC6(3) are two of the most widely used carbocyanine dyes used for membrane potential measurements.

DiOC₆(3) (3,3′-Dihexyloxacarbocyanine,iodide) is a green fluorescent membrane dye that has been used to stain the ER in both live and fixed cells. The dye has also been used to study structural interactions and dynamics of the ER in neurons and yeast.

Dipicrylamine (DPA) is a nonfluorescent anionic membrane dye. With its absorbance in the blue region of the visible spectrum, DPA can be used as a FRET quencher for a variety of fluorescent donor dyes.

DiR is a lipophilic, near-infrared fluorescent cyanine dye. The dye is useful for labeling cytoplasmic membranes and has been used for near-infrared in vivo imaging.

The principle of DPA/Tb³ for vesicle fusion assay is based on the fact that contact of the chelator dipicolinic acid (DPA) with terbium (III) forms an instant Tb³ -DPA complex that is ~10,000 times more fluorescent than free Tb³ . In the assay, separate vesicle populations are loaded with 2.5 mM TbCl3 in 50 mM sodium citrate, or 50 mM DPA in 20 mM NaCl.

DPX is a positively charged quencher that is often used with ANTS (90010) to study membrane fusion or permeability.

Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is a widely used nucleic acid gel stain although it is also a known potent mutagen. EtBr is an intercalating DNA-binding dye with little sequence preference.

Fluorescein biotin (5-((N-(5-(N-(6-(Biotinoyl)amino)hexanoyl)amino)pentyl)thioureidyl) fluorescein) can be used to detect and quantify biotin binding sites and the degree of biotinylation of proteins. Also see biotin-rhodamine 110 (80022) and biotin-4-fluorescein (90062).

Fluorescein-DHPE is a useful surface pH indicator, and has also been used for measuring lateral diffusion in membranes.

HM1-43 is a fixable, activity-dependent fluorescent nerve terminal probe.

Hoechst dyes are cell membrane-permeant, minor groove-binding blue fluorescent DNA stains. Hoechst dyes are widely used in cell cycle and apoptosis studies as nuclear counterstains.

Hydroxystilbamidine (also called Fluoro-Gold™) has been used extensively as a retrograde tracer for neurons and also a histochemical stain.