eBioscience™ DRAQ5™ (Invitrogen™)

DRAQ5™ is an anthraquinone dye with high affinity for double-stranded DNA. It is a membrane-permeable dye that can label live or fixed/dead cells. In flow cytometry, this dye can be used to distinguish nucleated and non-nucleated cells. DRAQ5™ can also be used to report nuclear DNA content for ploidy and cell cycle analysis because it binds DNA stoichiometrically. In fluorescent microscopy, it can be used as a nuclear counterstain.

DRAQ5™ can be excited by wavelengths from 488 to 647 nm. For microscopy/imaging, 633 or 647 nm sources for excitation are recommended. For flow cytometry, with excitation at 488 nm, this dye can be detected with filter sets designed for PerCP-eFluor™ 710 or PerCP-Cy5.5 (685LP dichroic mirror and 710/50 band pass); with excitation at 633 nm, it can be detected with filter sets designed for APC (660/20 band pass). For cell cycle/DNA analysis applications, a higher wavelength filter is recommended, such as a 710LP or a filter set designed for PE-Cy7 (735LP dichroic mirror and 780/60 band pass), to optimize the CV for the G1 and G2/M peaks. Please make sure that your instrument is capable of detecting this dye.

Because of its broad excitation and emission properties, DRAQ5™ is not recommended in combination with other far-red fluorochromes excited by the 488 or 633 nm laser lines, including PE-Cy7, PerCP-eFluor™ 710, PerCP-Cy5.5, APC, Alexa Fluor™ 647, Alexa Fluor™ 700, APC-eFluor™ 780 and equivalents (APC-Alexa Fluor™ 750 and APC-Cy7).

Reported Application
Cell Labeling, Immunocytochemistry, Flow Cytometric Analysis, Microscopy