Fluorescent labeling and detection

Thermo Fisher Scientific, through our Molecular Probes™ product line, is the world’s leading developer of fluorescence-based technology. This contribution of more than 35 years of experience, knowledge, and intellectual property has generated a diverse portfolio of products and applications such as immunoassay reagents, protein and nucleic acid microarray labeling kits, drug discovery assays, precast gels, RNAi conjugates, next-generation sequencing kits, real-time PCR master mixes, and more. Your company can capitalize on this product and intellectual property portfolio, knowledge, and experience base in order to fulfill your development and supply needs for commercial-use fluorescent labeling and detection. At the core of this competency is a cutting-edge team of chemists, biologists, and engineers, as well as a meticulous and efficient manufacturing team. Our ability to recommend, design, and develop customized reagents to match our customers’ instruments is unsurpassed in the industry. We have extensive patent coverage for many of our novel technologies, and many of these patents are now available for license. We are looking for partners and look forward to working with you.

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Fluorescent labels

Alexa Fluor® Dyes
Our flagship Alexa Fluor® dyes provide superior fluorescence that spans the near-UV, visible, and near-IR spectra for protein and nucleic acid labeling. These dyes, without exception, produce the best and brightest conjugates ever tested. They are available in a variety of reactive forms to meet your labeling needs. Whether you want amine-reactive, thiol-reactive, or other functional group reactivity, our vast selection of labeling chemistries provides you with the tools you need to support your business. Or if you prefer, we are experts in conjugating biomolecules of interest with our proprietary fluorescent dyes.

ABI Dyes
These fluorescent dyes for oligonucleotides include FAM™, TET™, VIC®, JOE™, NED™, TAMRA™, ROX™, PET® dyes and others that are proprietary to Thermo Fisher Scientific. These dyes are now available for license, and are usually provided as custom oligonucleotide conjugates to our OEM customers/licensees.

Other Premium Dyes
We can also provide access to a variety of other fluorescent dye labels, including the following:

  • BODIPY® dyes for labeling lipids and peptides
  • QSY® quencher dyes that are used in combination with fluorophores to create fluorescence resonance energy assays
  • Pacific Blue™ and Cascade Blue® dyes that are excitable at short wavelengths
  • Fluorinated fluorescein and coumarin dyes that are highly photostable and pH-insensitive in the physiological range

Stains

Nucleic Acid Stains
Our highly sensitive nucleic acid stains have set the standard for detecting and quantitating RNA, DNA or oligonucleotides in gels, cells, solutions, and in capillary and flow cytometry applications. Included are our SYBR® Green I stain, which has proven to be the ubiquitous choice by researchers around the world for real-time PCR and PicoGreen® reagent, which is the most commonly used reagent for quantifying double stranded DNA. Our SYTOX® stains provide a clear indication of dying or compromised cells because they are relatively non-fluorescent until binding nucleic acids and they are membrane impermeant, so they only reach the nucleus of dead cells. Our SYTO® dyes permeate both living and dead cells, and are used to detect microbes as well as to stain mammalian cells. We also provide standard generic stains, including high-purity Hoechst dyes, propidium iodide, and others. Our nucleic acid stains are useful in a wide variety of applications including imaging, flow cytometry, and microplate assays.

Protein Stains
Our fluorogenic SYPRO® protein stains can be used for electrophoretic slab gels as well as for capillary electrophoretic separation of proteins, and for detecting proteins on surfaces.

Membrane and Lipid Stains
We also have a full portfolio of dyes that are sensitive to the relative hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of their environment, making them ideal for staining cell membranes and hydrophobic surfaces. 

Sensors

Sensors—molecules that respond to the presence of ions or small molecules in their environment by exhibiting changes in fluorescence—can be incredibly useful for a variety of applications including neurobiology, environmental testing, water testing, and drug discovery. We have been at the forefront in developing and commercializing these types of molecules. One of the most well known sensors, Fluo-4, which detects the presence and abundance of Ca2+ ions, has also proven to be one of the most useful. In drug discovery, large-scale screening of compound libraries still depends on the increase in green fluorescence of Fluo-4 upon binding calcium. Other sensors include the new and unique pH-sensitive dye pHrodoTM, whose red fluorescence is increased upon acidification of its environment, making it extremely useful for internalization assays and for detecting changes in pH in samples with high autofluorescence. We also offer a portfolio of sensors for detecting other ions, including sodium, potassium, lead, cadmium, chlorine, and others. 

Enzyme Substrates

We offer a wide variety of fluorogenic enzyme substrates for blot, microplate or solution-based assays as well as for cell- or tissue-based activity detection. These substrates can be used to detect endogenous enzyme activity, or can be used in enzyme-coupled reactions to amplify signals for detecting a wide range of analytes. For example, we offer validated solutions for enzyme activity assays using the extremely versatile Amplex® Red reagent. This highly stable and sensitive fluorogenic substrate for horseradish peroxidase has been used to develop a variety of novel fluorogenic and chromogenic assays for enzymes that produce hydrogen peroxide. Additionally, these coupled enzyme assays permit the ultrasensitive quantitation of a diverse assortment of analytes including glucose, galactose, cholesterol, and hydrogen peroxide. Our Tropix® chemiluminescent product line is the industry standard for lumigenic immunoassay detection.

Contact Us

This is by no means a complete list of all of our fluorescence technologies. Please contact us for more information on any of our products, technologies, and applications for commercial use at outlicensing@lifetech.com.