Invitrogen™ CellMask™ Plasma Membrane Stains

Description

• Invitrogen CellMask™ plasma membrane stains enable fast and uniform labeling of the plasma membrane in almost all cell types
• These stains works rapidly and can be detected using standard microscope filter sets with any imaging instrument
• Depending upon the cell type and experimental conditions, the plasma membrane staining will last for 60–90 minutes without detectable internalization, providing enough time for most live cell dynamic studies
• The stain survives fixation, but not permeabilization
• Invitrogen CellMask™ plasma membrane stains enable fast and uniform labeling of the plasma membrane in almost all cell types
• These stains works rapidly and can be detected using standard microscope filter sets with any imaging instrument
• Depending upon the cell type and experimental conditions, the plasma membrane staining will last for 60–90 minutes without detectable internalization, providing enough time for most live cell dynamic studies
• The stain survives fixation, but not permeabilization
• Features of CellMask™ plasma membrane stains include: • Sensitivity—specific and rapid plasma membrane staining • Excellent retention—staining lasts for 60–90 minutes • Available in most common microscope channels, green, orange, deep red, and near infrared Drawbacks of other methods The plasma membrane is a convenient marker of cell boundaries and as such, a number of probes have been used for staining of the membrane
• Typically, dyes of a lipophilic nature are used; however, they internalize rapidly, offering a very narrow window for imaging
• Fluorescently labeled lectins, such as wheat germ agglutinin, have also been employed as plasma membrane stains
• Conjugated lectins depend on cell surface sugars for staining and as a result, stain inconsistently with variation across cell types
• Robust plasma membrane staining is important for a range of applications including translocation assays, plasma membrane dynamics, and as a general tool for cell identification in traditional and automated imaging and analysis
• How CellMask™ plasma membrane stains work CellMask™ plasma membrane stains are designed to deliver uniform staining of the plasma membrane across a wide variety of mammalian cell types and are slow to internalize, particularly compared to traditional approaches such as DiI, DiO, and labeled wheat germ agglutinin
• CellMask™ plasma membrane stains are amphipathic molecules containing a lipophilic moiety for excellent membrane loading and a negatively charged hydrophilic dye for anchoring of the probe in the plasma membrane
• While CellMask™ plasma membrane stains provide ample opportunity for live cell imaging, the staining pattern is also maintained after fixation with formaldehyde, enabling additional multiparametric imaging options
• However, staining with CellMask™ plasma membrane stains does not survive detergent extraction and, therefore, cannot be used in conjunction with probes that require permeabilization.