CellMask™ Orange Plasma Membrane Stain, 100 μL - FAQs

No. For paraffin sections, there are few options due to the delipidation of the membranes by solvents used in the deparaffinization steps. The only good option is to use an antibody against a plasma membrane protein.

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Depending upon the cell type and experimental conditions, the plasma membrane staining will last for 60-90 min without detectable internalization, providing enough time for most live cell dynamic studies. The stain survives fixation, but not permeabilization.

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The proprietary fluorescent dyes in the CellMask stains are general cytoplasmic stains. They are not found to bind to any specific cellular component.

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For live-cell imaging, the CellVue and CellMask Plasma Membrane Stains are the most uniform and the slowest to be endocytosed. However, they are not the best choice if you wish to fix and permeabilize your cells, such as for antibody labeling. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) conjugates are also able to label live cells, or can label already formaldehyde-fixed cells. They can survive subsequent permeabilization with detergents, such as Triton X-100. If cells are already permeabilized, WGA will label internal structures as well. Thus, only an antibody against a plasma membrane protein can be used if cells are already permeabilized. Lipophilic cyanine dyes, such as DiI, will label all cell membranes in live cells, not just plasma membranes, if left on live cells for extended periods. Following page will help you choose (http://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/cell-analysis/cell-structure/plasma-membrane.html).

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