MitoBrilliant™ Dyes

Janelia Fluor^®-based Mitochondria Dyes

Our Mitobrilliant range harnesses Janelia Fluor^® dye technology, conferring some of the properties of these widely used dyes, into mitochondrial stains. Two types of MitoBrilliant probes are available. The MitoBrilliant Live dyes accumulate in the mitochondria of live cells in a mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) dependent manner. Upon loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential, the dyes disperse, and so provide a dynamic assessment of Δψm in live cells. Two live-cell dyes are available: MitoBrilliant™ Live 646 (Cat. No. 7417) (red emission) and MitoBrilliant™ Live 549 (Cat. No. 7693) (yellow/orange emission). MitoBrilliant™ 646 (Cat. No. 7700) is a highly versatile 'universal dye' for both live and fixed cell applications. It is retained in mitochondria following fixation with exceptionally clear staining and is retained in mitochondria following loss of the mitochondrial membrane potential. Additionally, MitoBrilliant™ 646 can be used to stain pre-fixed cells and tissue, making this dye suitable for IHC and ICC.

Please download the MitoBrilliant Product Guide to view data for each of the dyes in different applications. Please refer to the protocol for guidelines on product use.

TABLE 1. Key features of MitoBrilliant™ dyes

* In live-cell staining, mitochondrial membrane potential drives initial recruitment of the dye into mitochondria. After staining, localization of the dyes becomes insensitive to the membrane potential changes. In pre-fixed cell staining, MitoBrilliant™ 646 can localize and stay in mitochondria without the membrane potential (see the Product Guide for details).

Use of MitoBrilliant Dyes in Fluorescence Imaging

Figure 1: Images highlighting the superior brightness of MitoBrilliant™ Live 549 compared with the leading competitor mitochondrial stain. HeLa cells were incubated with MitoBrilliant™ Live 549 (100 nM, right) or an equivalent competitor dye (100 nM, left) for 40 minutes. Cells were counterstained with DAPI (Cat. No. 5758). Images obtained using an LSM880 Confocal with a 63X objective. The same settings were used for both images. Scale bar = 10 μm

Figure 2: Images highlighting the improved staining resolution of MitoBrilliant™ 646 compared with the leading competitor mitochondrial stain. HeLa cells were incubated with MitoBrilliant™ 646 (100 nM, right) or an equivalent competitor dye (100 nM, left) for 40 minutes. Cells were then fixed for 10 minutes in 4% PFA. Images obtained using an LSM880 Confocal with a 63X oil objective. Laser power and gain were set to each individual probe. Scale bar = 10 μm.

Mitobrilliant Dyes in High Content Imaging

High content imaging (HCI) is widely used in high-throughput screening and drug discovery. To maximize data capture for HCI, the fluorescent dyes need to be cell-permeable for live-cell applications, bright for desired signal-to-noise ratio in low light levels, photostable for repetitive imaging and exhibit low toxicity in different cell types, as well as minimal interference with normal cell functions. Our MitoBrilliant™ dyes meet all these criteria allowing long-term imaging. MitoBrilliant™ Live dyes can be used for detecting loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, while MitoBrilliant™ 646 can stably label mitochondria during cellular events that might affect the membrane potential, making these dyes excellent tools for functional imaging of mitochondria.

Learn more about our MitoBrilliant dyes in our poster "Novel Live-cell and Fixable Mitochondrial Probes for Cytometry and Imaging".

MitoBrilliant is a trademark of Bio-Techne Corp.

Literature for MitoBrilliant™ Dyes

Tocris offers the following scientific literature for MitoBrilliant™ Dyes to showcase our products. We invite you to request* your copy today!

*Please note that Tocris will only send literature to established scientific business / institute addresses.

MitoBrilliant Research Product Guide

This product guide provides a background, protocols and data from use in different research applications for our Mitobrilliant™ fluorescent mitochondrial probes:

• MitoBrilliant™ 646
• MitoBrilliant™ Live 646
• MitoBrilliant™ Live 549

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Novel Live-cell and Fixable Mitochondrial Probes Poster

Fluorescent probes that accumulate in the mitochondria are useful tools to explore mitochondrial function and cell health. This poster reports the development inhouse and characterization of novel fluorescent probes, known as MitoBrilliant that specifically localize to mitochondria due to mitochondrial membrane potential. The probes are suitable for live or fixed cell staining. The data demonstrate the specificity and enhanced properties of our MitoBrilliant dyes and their use in a range of applications. This poster was presented at CYTO 2022, June 2022, Philadelphia, USA.

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