Sensitivity to room light.

From: Keith Bahjat (kbahjat@ufl.edu)
Date: Tue Jan 26 1999 - 15:57:54 EST


This message brings up a point that I'd like to see addressed by the experts.
In my hands, FITC (as well as PE, PerCP, APC, PI, 7-AAD, and ToPro-3) is very
stable, and no precautions need to be taken while staining or running samples,
as no degradation has ever been seen. Every clinical and research lab I've been
in stains samples on the bench top and takes no special precautions to avoid
any forms of light. But some researchers here do things like staining in the
dark, encasing samples in aluminum foil, and using red filters on the room
lights in the flow lab for fear of fluorochrome degradation. Based on my
experience, I'm not sure why they fear the light to this extent. I've seen this
happen using the fluorescent scope, but I think those are usually fluors like
Cy2 and Cy3. Are some derivations of fluorescein more photolabile than others,
or am I ruining my samples.

thanks for any news and views.

Keith Bahjat
kbahjat@ufl.edu


joan Kalnitsky wrote:

> Does anyone know the quenching time of PI?  We have someone who wants to
> stain with PI and is concerned about whether it will fade out like FITC
> would.  Also, how about PE.  Is it as light sensitive as FITC.  Any and all
> suggstions would be helpful. If anyone has stained with PI and has a
> protocol, we would love to see it.
>         Thanks in advance.
>         Joan K
>
>
>
>         Flow Cytometry Lab Supervisor
>         VMRCVM
>         (540) 231-4115
>         FAX 540-231-7367
>         jkalnits@vt.edu
>
>         "It is better to serve than to receive."
>            B. Borg



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