A research group at the University of Sheffield has developed a series of novel chemical compounds suitable for live cellular staining applications with a unique combination of properties.
Researchers require a detailed understanding of the processes and control points involved in specific diseases from inherited disorders to cancer and infections. Although much work has been done using cell-free systems where individual enzymes are analysed in vitro, there are always caveats about the relevance of such data to whole cells or organisms. Until recently cell biologists were restricted to studying static, fixed tissue sections, raising concerns around artefacts introduced by sample preparation. New instruments allow cell biologists to study living cells and tissues, providing dynamic, real-time data. This instrumentation requires new reagents, such as cell stains, matched to its capabilities.
Currently available staining systems are far from ideal for the following reasons:
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Most have low water solubilities.
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Their cellular uptake can be low so that staining can only be accomplished in fixed cells.
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Most stains tend to be toxic, thus stained cells are only viable for 30 - 60 minutes.
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They often have poor signal/noise ratios.
A research group at the University of Sheffield has developed a series of novel chemical compounds suitable for use as reagents for this new cell biology. The compounds appear to be very suitable for live cellular staining applications and have a unique combination of properties, including:
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Very low toxicity, which allows for long-term culture studies on labelled cells
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High solubility in water, avoiding the need for incompatible organic solvents that might affect cells
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Unique optical properties that provide a high signal-to-noise ratio
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Straight-forward to synthesise in a few chemical steps using readily-available precursors making them suitable for scale-up to commercial manufacture
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Fluorescent light output is highly dependent on its environment - it produces different colours when bound to different structures within a cell.
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