Rapid and no-wash live cell staining

A new fluorescent dye allows for quick staining of live cells without the need for washing.

Live-cell fluorescent dyes are critical tools for cell biology research, allowing the visualization and tracking of cells in various assays. In the August issue of BioTechniques, Alexey A. Pakhomov and his colleagues at the Russian Academy of Sciences describe a new fluorescent dye for rapid, no-wash staining of live cells.

This dye is derived from boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY), a molecule with numerous other derivatives that are used as fluorescent sensors and for conjugation to biomolecules. Some of these derivatives are lipophilic, binding to the plasma and subcellular membranes, and they tend to aggregate in polar media such as the cytosol and extracellular space, which results in aggregation-caused quenching.

The team tested these derivatives for use in live-cell staining and demonstrated that one of them immediately stained the plasma and subcellular membranes of live mammalian cells with high contrast, without the need for washing. In fact, washing the stained cells with PBS removed the dye, allowing the cells to be stained with another dye of the same color.