Citifluor™ AFR3, Mounting Medium, 10ml

The imaging of live cells in conjunction with an antifadent poses problems. The classical antifadents made of amines and phenols can interact with the cell surface leading to lysis. This new solution contains an antifadent at a much lower concentration than that used is in the currently available solutions and is designed to show minimal phototoxicity.

Unlike other antifadents it does not de-oxygenate the solution. The antifadent is supplied in a phosphate buffered saline solution. Texas Red, Alexa and Cyanine dyes have been stabilized with the new antifadent. This solution has a refractive index of 1.34 and hence is ideally suited for use with Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy (TIRF).

Properties and storage of AFR3 mountant solutions

The solutions have a water-white in appearance. May be stored at room temperature and ideally between 5°C and 15°C and out of strong sunlight. The cap of the bottle (or if using the pipette supplied with the material, the cap which covers the pipette delivery point) should always be replaced after use as a matter of good practice. Samples stored under these conditions for 6 months have shown no apparent deterioration. If the AF3 solution is being used in an assay, a control experiment should always be carried out.

Usage and Useful Tips

The low refractive index of AFR3 makes it ideal for use with the recently introduced technique of Total Internal Reflectance Spectroscopy (TIRF), where a large difference in refractive index between glass and the mounting medium is required.