Trypan Blue Solution (0.5%)

Our Live/Dead Cell Staining Kit is for use in unfixed living cells, so it cannot be used in paraffin sections or cryosections of tissue.
There are some references reporting the use of calcein-AM and vital dyes in dissected tissues or organ cultures in vitro.  The main concern would be whether the dyes can penetrate the areas of tissue that you want to examine. Also, calcein is not fixable, so you would need to observe the fluorescence in the tissue without additional processing. A longer incubation time might be required in tissue specimens compared to cells to allow the dyes to penetrate and for conversion calcein-AM into calcein. Also, because ethidium homodimer III stains cell with compromised membrane integrity, it will likely stain cells along cut edges or on the surface of a tissue slice.
A fixable alternative to calcein-AM is CFSE, which is non-fluorescent until it is hydrolyzed by esterases in the cytoplasm of living cells to generate fluorescein-SE, which covalently attaches to cellular proteins. We offer CFSE (Cell Proliferation Kit I, PK-CA707-30050), which you could pair with a vital dye like propidium iodide or ethdium homodimer III to stain dead cells. For the vital dyes, it is important to wash away the free dye thoroughly before fixing to avoid background staining.

Related Links and Documents

• Live/Dead Cell Staininng Kit II
• Cell Proliferation Kit I (CFSE)

The Annexin V-FITC Detection Kit contains annexin V-FITC, propidium iodide (PI), and 1x Binding Buffer. It can be used to discriminate between apoptotic (green), necrotic (red PI staining throughout the nucleus and a halo of green staining on the cell surface) and healthy cells (no fluorescence).
The Annexin V FITC Apoptosis Detection Kit^Plus includes Annexin V-FITC, 1x Binding Buffer, and SYTOX green dye which is impermeable to live and apoptotic cells, but stains necrotic cells with intense green fluorescence by binding to nucleic acids. After staining a cell population with the Detection Kit^Plus, apoptotic cells show green fluorescence, dead cells a higher level of green fluorescence and live cells little or no fluorescence. These populations can easily be distinguished using a flow cytometry with the 488 nm line of an argon-ion laser for excitation. Both Annexin V-FITC and SYTOX Green dye emit green fluorescence that can be detected in the FL1 channel, freeing the other channels for the addition of other probes in multi-color labeling experiments.

Related Links and Documents

• Annexin V-FITC Detection Kit
• Annexin V-FITC Detection Kit plus

Annexin V-Cy3 Detection Kit and Annexin V-PE Detection Kit include the conjugated Annexin V and 1x  Binding Buffer. They can be used to quantify the ratio of apoptotic (red/orange fluorescence) versus non-apoptotic (non-fluorescent) cells.
The Annexin V-Cy3/ -PE Detection Kits^Plus additionally include SYTOX green dye, which is impermeable to live and apoptotic cells, but stains necrotic cells by binding to nucleic acids. After staining a cell population with these "Plus" Kits, apoptotic cells show red fluorescence, dead cells show green fluorescence and live cells show little or no fluorescence. The populations can easily be distinguished by fluorescence microscopy using FITC and rhodamine filters or by flow cytometry using the FL1 channel (Ex. 488 nm/Em. 530 nm) for SYTOX Green dye and FL2 channel for Annexin V-Cy3 or -PE (Ex. 543 nm/Em. 570 nm).

Related Links and Documents

• Annexin V Detection Kits