Acti-stain

For product Datasheets and MSDSs please click on the PDF links below.   For additional information, click on the FAQs tab above or contact our Technical Support department at tservice@cytoskeleton.com.

Cytoskeleton's Acti-stain products have been cited hundreds of times over the past two decades. A select few are described here, for more citations on individual products please use the "Citations" tab on each individual product page.

Question 1:  Which is the most stable/brightest Acti-stain conjugate? 

Answer 1:  The brightest and most stable of the Acti-stains is Acti-stain 488 (green fluorescence; Cat. # PHDG1).  Please see the table below for additional information on all of our Acti-stains. 

* = measured in the absence of antifade.

Question 2:  What fixation conditions are recommended when staining with phalloidin conjugates? 

Answer 2:  Fluorescent phalloidins only bind to the native quaternary structure of F-actin which provides a low background.  The correct fixation condition for phalloidin binding is 3.7% (v/v) paraformaldehyde in PBS for 10 min because it retains the quaternary protein structure which is necessary for high affinity binding of phalloidin.  Methanol fixation destroys the native conformation and hence is not suitable for F-actin staining with phalloidin.

For more information about staining procedures and specifications of the Acti-stain series, please click here.