DyLight Fluor

The DyLight Fluor family of fluorescent dyes is produced by Thermo Fisher Scientific. DyLight Dyes are typically used in biotechnology and research applications as biomolecule, cell and tissue labels for fluorescence microscopy, cell biology or molecular biology.

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The excitation and emission spectra of the DyLight Fluor series covers much of the visible spectrum and extends into the infrared region, allowing detection using most fluorescence microscopes, as well as infrared imaging systems.

To use the DyLight Fluors with fluorescent imagers, use a spectral line of the blue laser diode for DyLight 405, a green (526 nm) laser for DyLight 488, a green (532 nm) laser for DyLight 549, and a red (633 nm) laser for DyLight 633 and 649. The DyLight 680 and 800 fluors are compatible with laser-based and filter-based instruments that emit in the 700 nm and 800 nm region of the spectrum, respectively.

DyLight Fluors are synthesized through sulfonate addition to coumarin, rhodamine, xanthene (such as fluorescein), and cyanine dyes. Sulfonation makes DyLight Dyes negatively charged and hydrophilic. DyLight Fluors are commercially available as reactive succinimidyl-esters for labeling proteins through lysine residues, and as maleimide derivatives for labeling proteins through cysteine residues.

Historically, fluors such as fluorescein, rhodamine, Cy3 and Cy5 have been used in a wide variety of applications. These dyes have major limitations for use in microscopy and other applications that require exposure to an intense light source such as a laser, because they photobleach quickly. DyLight Fluors have comparable excitation and emission spectra and are generally more photostable, brighter, and less pH-sensitive.

The Alexa Fluor dyes from Invitrogen and Hilyte Fluor dyes from AnaSpec are similar lines of fluorescent dyes that offer comparable alternatives to the DyLight Fluors.