What is an Antifadent Solution?
Citifluor, a Division of Electron Microscopy Sciences, produces a complete range of Antifadent Solutions available to buy from around the globe. Detailed descriptions of our antifadent mountant solutions may be found in the Non Hardening Antifadents and Hardening Antifadents product sections. Some guidance on selecting the best antifadent for your application can be found in Choosing the right product.
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Citifluor specialises in making products that reduce the photo-bleaching, or fading, of the fluorescence of dyes used for labelling biological species. The fading of fluorochrome dyes is a particular problem in fluorescence microscopy, such as in immunofluorescence studies. Fluorescent dyes are also used as cell markers, for following the uptake and release of calcium from cells for example, and for characterizing cell surfaces. For working at high magnification where image integrity is of importance, our unique high refractive index mountants are especially useful
In fluoresence microscopy, the fluorescence is stimulated by high intensity UV or visible light. Absorption of the light populates an excited state of the dye (usually a singlet state) and this leads to fluorescence. However, the excited state of the dye may undergo chemical reactions which leads to its destruction as evidenced by the fading or bleaching of the fluorescence and consequent loss of the image or in the case of assays, a variation of signal intensity with time.
To overcome these problems Citifluor developed antifadent (antibleaching) solutions for use as mounting media when specimens are examined by fluorescent microscopy or other detection systems and as additives for assays.
The most frequently used solution is AF1 which is an anti-fadent (anti-bleaching agent) contained in a glycerol PBS (phosphate-buffered saline) solution and is particularly useful for examining tissue sections.
AF2 solution contains the antifadent in glycerol which enables users to choose their own buffer, and AF3 is the antifadent in PBS solution. AF3 is particularly useful for examining live cells.
AF87 is a non fluorescent immersion oil containing antifadent. CFPVOH is an aqueous solution of poly(vinyl alcohol) for use as a solid mountant. AF100 is a solution of antifadents (anti bleaching agents) for use with CFPVOH when fading (bleaching) of specimens in a solid mountant is a problem.
None of the antifadents is based on p-phenylenediamine. All solutions may be stored at room temperature.
A summary of the Pack sizes and Storage conditions for all Citifluor Antifadent products may be downloaded as a PDF.