SlowFade antifade reagents suppress photobleaching and preserve the signals of your fluorescently labeled target molecules for analysis. SlowFade antifade reagents do not cure over time, and samples can be viewed immediately. SlowFade reagents are intended for short-term preservation (3–4 weeks), and samples may degrade over longer periods.
Key benefits of SlowFade antifade reagents include:
- Inhibit photobleaching across the spectrum
- Non-setting mountants
- Available with or without DAPI
- Ready-to-use bench-top formulations
- Refractive index 1.42
Choose the antifade reagent that matches your experiment
- For live-cell imaging of fluorescent dyes and proteins, see ProLong Live products
- For immediate analysis and short-term storage of fixed samples see SlowFade reagents
- For long-term analysis of Alexa Fluor dyes in fixed samples see ProLong Gold products
- For long-term analysis of all dyes and fluorescent proteins in fixed samples see ProLong Diamond products
- For long-term analysis of all dyes and fluorescent proteins in fixed samples with best optical clarity see ProLong Glass products
Performance of SlowFade antifade reagents
SlowFadeGold antifade reagent performance
SlowFade Gold antifade reagent outperforms all other commercially available antifade reagents because it preserves signal across the entire visible spectrum and causes little or no quenching of the initial fluorescent signal.
SlowFade Diamond antifade reagent performance
SlowFade Diamond antifade reagent delivers all the performance of SlowFade Gold reagent with Alexa Fluor dyes and provides additional protection for traditional dyes and fluorescent proteins. SlowFade Diamond reagent is a superior antifade and mountant, offering protection across the visible spectrum. Keep SlowFade Diamond reagent refrigerated for the best performance.
A 60-second time-lapse showing the enhanced resistance to photobleaching afforded by SlowFade antifade reagents. Fixed HeLa cells were labeled with fluorescein phalloidin and mounted in SlowFade Diamond, SlowFade Gold or 50% PBS/glycerol. Images were acquired at 12-second intervals using a 20x objective with continuous illumination from a standard 100-watt Hg-arc lamp.
Photobleaching resistance for fluorescent dyes and proteins with SlowFade reagents. Photobleaching resistance was quantified on a LSM 710 (Zeiss) confocal microscope. HeLa or U2OS cells were stained and mounted using standard ICC protocols. Five regions within three fields of view were scanned 50x with a 1.58 μs dwell time per pixel. Excitation wavelength and intensity were optimized for the fluorophore being measured.
SlowFade reagent gallery
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Find the right SlowFade antifade reagent
|
SlowFade Gold antifade reagent
|
SlowFade Diamond antifade reagent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexa Fluor dyes |
Yes
|
Yes
|
|||
| Traditional dyes & FPs |
No
|
Yes
|
|||
| RT storage |
Yes
|
No
|
|||
| * For ordering information see the product table. | |||||
Performance across the spectrum
SlowFade Diamond reagent is a superior antifade and mountant, offering protection across the visible spectrum and exhibiting less initial quenching of the fluorescent signal. It provides additional protection for traditional dyes such as FITC and fluorescent proteins such as GFP. In a comparison of commercially available soft-mount antifade reagents in a standardized experiment, SlowFade mountants outperformed other products in both confocal and bright-field applications.
Comparison of degree of photobleaching protection by SlowFade antifades for various fluorescent dyes
| Fluorescent dye |
Ex/Em (nm)
|
Resistance to photobleaching*
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
SlowFade Gold |
SlowFade Diamond |
VECTASHIELD Mounting Medium |
||
| Hoechst |
350/461
|
100%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| DAPI |
345/455
|
90%
|
90%
|
90%
|
| BODIPY FL |
505/513
|
90%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| Alexa Fluor 488 |
495/519
|
80%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| GFP |
488/510
|
50%
|
90%
|
90%
|
| Fluorescein |
494/518
|
90%
|
90%
|
90%
|
| Cy3 |
550/570
|
80%
|
80%
|
70%
|
| Alexa Fluor 546 |
556/575
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
| Tetramethylrhodamine |
555/580
|
80%
|
100%
|
70%
|
| Alexa Fluor 555 |
555/565
|
90%
|
90%
|
90%
|
| Alexa Fluor 568 |
578/603
|
80%
|
90%
|
90%
|
| Texas Red |
595/615
|
90%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| Alexa Fluor 594 |
590/617
|
90%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| TO-PRO-3 |
642/661
|
80%
|
100%
|
100%
|
| Alexa Fluor 647 |
652/668
|
90%
|
100%
|
0%
|
| Cy5 |
650/670
|
100%
|
100%
|
90%
|
| *The degree of photobleaching protection is compiled from a combination of bright field exposure and confocal scanning data to represent typical user experience in fluorescence imaging applications. VECTASHIELD is a trademark of Vector Laboratories, Inc., Burlingame, CA. Hoechst is a trademark of Hoechst, GmbH. Cy is a trademark of GE Healthcare UK, Ltd. |
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Greener products from Thermo Fisher Scientific
For added convenience and a reduction in the environmental impact associated with cold storage requirements, our antifade reagents are provided in dropper bottles with storage right at your bench. In addition, these reagents are formulated with reduced sodium azide to help minimize environmental and health hazard exposure risks.
Learn more about these greener product alternatives
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