NIR Cell (Membrane) Tracers

The analysis of live cell membranes and liposome bilayers represents a significant area of application for fluorescent probes. Lipophilic organic dyes bear some structural resemblance to natural lipids and can be incorporated into cell wall and liposome. BioActs developed CytoFlamma^® cell membrane series as versatile membrane selective fluorescent probes. The probes consist of Flamma dye attached with hydrophobic lipid analogs. They can be used in studies for biophysical analysis of membranes, for tracing lipid transport and metabolism in live cells, and for lipid-mediated signal transduction processes. Flamma® dyes display strong absorption, high fluorescence quantum yield and high photostability, and they maintain good fluorescence activity and stability after conjugation to biomolecules. Due to low toxicity and stable retention, CytoFlamma^® cell membrane probes might be useful for long-term cell tracing and can be used as membrane markers of endocytosis and exocytosis. The probes are stable under photooxidation effects induced by ultraviolet excitation and are resistant to spontaneous oxidation. We offer CytoFlamma^® cell membrane series as selective fluorescent probes for analyzing cell structure by incorporating into plasma membrane.

Figure 1.   Imaging of CytoFlamma^® 488 cell membrane staining

Detaching HeLa cell from plate and treating CytoFlamma^®488 cell membrane and staining for 5 min, then divided to plate again and cultivated for 24 h, image obtained with FITC filter

Figure 2.   Imaging of cultured cell after CytoFlamma^® cell membrane staining