Cell Explorer(TM) Live Cell Labeling Kit *Red Fluorescence*

Our Cell Explorer(TM) fluorescence imaging kits are a set of tools for labeling cells for fluorescence microscopic investigations of cellular functions. The effective labeling of cells provides a powerful method for studying cellular events in a spatial and temporal context. This particular kit is designed to uniformly label live cells in red fluorescence. The kit uses a proprietary non-fluorescent dye that becomes strongly fluorescence upon entering into live cells. The dye is a hydrophobic compound that easily permeates intact live cells. The hydrolysis of the non-fluorescent substrate by intracellular esterases generates a strongly red fluorescent hydrophilic product that is well-retained in the cell cytoplasm. Cells grown in black-walled plates can be stained and quantified in less than two hours. The assay is more robust than the tetrazolium salt or Alarmar Blue(TM)-based assays. It can be readily adapted for high-throughput assays in a wide variety of fluorescence platforms such as microplate assays, immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry. It is useful in a variety of studies, including cell adhesion, chemotaxis, multidrug resistance, cell viability, apoptosis and cytotoxicity. The kit provides all the essential components with an optimized cell-labeling protocol.