ReadyProbes Ready-to-Use Imaging Reagents

2 ReadyProbes dropper bottles next to product box.

The easiest way to image your cells

Molecular Probes ReadyProbes reagents are ready-to-use imaging solutions designed to allow you to stain cells with:

No calculations
No dilutions
No pipetting

Reach for the convenient dropper bottle, add 2 drops per milliliter of your cell suspension, and you're ready to image. ReadyProbes reagents address your most common imaging needs, including nuclear and cytoskeletal staining, and analyses for cell viability and apoptosis. In addition, we’ve formulated some of our most popular secondary antibodies for use straight from the dropper bottle. We’ve also developed ReadyProbes imaging accessories to help you get great results from your staining protocol.

ReadyProbes Cell Stains

With each ReadyProbes reagent, you can follow the icon-based protocol to obtain quick and easy results for a common imaging application. ReadyProbes cell stains can remain on the bench within arm’s reach of your microscope. Add 2 drops per milliliter of solution, and you're ready for the next step in your experiment.

Microscopic view of a cell showing actin stained red and the nucleus stained blue

HeLa cells labeled with NucBlue Live ReadyProbes Reagent and ActinRed 555 ReadyProbes Reagent

	NucBlue Live ReadyProbes Reagent	NucRed Live 647 ReadyProbes Reagent	NucBlue Fixed Cell ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for nucleic acids; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	High-efficiency staining of both RNA and DNA
Common filter set	DAPI	Cy5	DAPI
Ex/Em (nm)	358/461	638/686	360/460
Signal-to-noise ratio
Photostability
Live cells	Yes	Yes	No
Fixed cells	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fixable	Yes	Yes	NA
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37605	R37106	R37606

See more nuclear staining reagents

	ActinGreen 488 ReadyProbes Reagent	ActinRed 555 ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for actin; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	High-affinity staining of F-actin
Common filter set	FITC	TRITC
Ex/Em (nm)	495/518	555/565
Signal-to-noise ratio
Photostability
Live cells	No	No
Fixed cells	Yes	Yes
Fixable	NA	NA
Platforms	Imaging	Imaging
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37110	R37112

See more actin staining reagents

	NucGreen Dead 488 ReadyProbes Reagent	NucRed Dead 647 ReadyProbes Reagent	ReadyProbes Cell Viability Imaging Kit (Blue/Green)	ReadyProbes Cell Viability Imaging Kit (Blue/Red)
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for viability; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	Single-color assays detect dead cells		Two-color assays detect dead cells and total cells
Target	Dead cells stain green	Dead cells stain red	Dead cells stain green, live cells appear blue	Dead cells stain red, total cells appear blue
Fluorescent label	DNA stain	DNA stain	DNA stain	Propidium iodide
Fluorescent label	DNA stain	DNA stain	Hoechst 33342	Hoechst 33342
Standard filter set	FITC	Cy®5	FITC	TRITC/RFP
Standard filter set	FITC	Cy®5	DAPI	DAPI
Ex/Em (nm)	504/523	642/661	504/523	535/617
Ex/Em (nm)	504/523	642/661	360/460	360/460
Platforms	Imaging	Imaging	Imaging	Imaging
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37109	R37113	R37609	R37610

See more cell viability stains

	CellEvent Caspase-3/7 Green ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for apoptosis; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	Fluorescence intensity increases with caspase 3/7 activity
Common filter set	FITC
Ex/Em (nm)	502/530
Live cells	Yes
Fixed cells	No
Fixable	Yes
Platforms	Imaging
Format	1 x dropper bottle
Cat. No.	R37111

See more apoptosis stains

Nuclear stains

	NucBlue Live ReadyProbes Reagent	NucRed Live 647 ReadyProbes Reagent	NucBlue Fixed Cell ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for nucleic acids; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	High-efficiency staining of both RNA and DNA
Common filter set	DAPI	Cy5	DAPI
Ex/Em (nm)	358/461	638/686	360/460
Signal-to-noise ratio
Photostability
Live cells	Yes	Yes	No
Fixed cells	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fixable	Yes	Yes	NA
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37605	R37106	R37606

See more nuclear staining reagents

Actin stains

	ActinGreen 488 ReadyProbes Reagent	ActinRed 555 ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for actin; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	High-affinity staining of F-actin
Common filter set	FITC	TRITC
Ex/Em (nm)	495/518	555/565
Signal-to-noise ratio
Photostability
Live cells	No	No
Fixed cells	Yes	Yes
Fixable	NA	NA
Platforms	Imaging	Imaging
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37110	R37112

See more actin staining reagents

Viability stains

	NucGreen Dead 488 ReadyProbes Reagent	NucRed Dead 647 ReadyProbes Reagent	ReadyProbes Cell Viability Imaging Kit (Blue/Green)	ReadyProbes Cell Viability Imaging Kit (Blue/Red)
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for viability; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	Single-color assays detect dead cells		Two-color assays detect dead cells and total cells
Target	Dead cells stain green	Dead cells stain red	Dead cells stain green, live cells appear blue	Dead cells stain red, total cells appear blue
Fluorescent label	DNA stain	DNA stain	DNA stain	Propidium iodide
Fluorescent label	DNA stain	DNA stain	Hoechst 33342	Hoechst 33342
Standard filter set	FITC	Cy®5	FITC	TRITC/RFP
Standard filter set	FITC	Cy®5	DAPI	DAPI
Ex/Em (nm)	504/523	642/661	504/523	535/617
Ex/Em (nm)	504/523	642/661	360/460	360/460
Platforms	Imaging	Imaging	Imaging	Imaging
Format	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles	6 x dropper bottles
Cat. No.	R37109	R37113	R37609	R37610

See more cell viability stains

Apoptosis stains

	CellEvent Caspase-3/7 Green ReadyProbes Reagent
Readout	The easiest fluorescent staining method for apoptosis; no calculations, no dilutions, no pipetting
Target	Fluorescence intensity increases with caspase 3/7 activity
Common filter set	FITC
Ex/Em (nm)	502/530
Live cells	Yes
Fixed cells	No
Fixable	Yes
Platforms	Imaging
Format	1 x dropper bottle
Cat. No.	R37111

See more apoptosis stains

ReadyProbes Secondary Antibodies

ReadyProbes secondary antibodies are conjugated with bright and photostable Alexa Fluor 488 and Alexa Fluor 594 dyes to offer convenient and robust labeling. These Alexa Fluor secondary antibodies recognize IgG heavy chains and all classes of immunoglobulin light chains from either mouse or rabbit. Like other ReadyProbes reagents, these secondary antibodies are provided in a convenient dropper bottle format. No pipetting or dilutions are required. Just add 2 drops per milliliter of buffer to stain your cells, and follow the icon-based protocol.

Microscopic view showing a group of fluorescently stained cells, demonstrating the multiplex capabilities of a ReadyProbes secondary antibody with other secondary antibodies and cell stains.

CAKI cell peroxisomes labeled using a rabbit anti-PMP70 antibody, followed by detection with Alexa Fluor 488 Goat Anti–Rabbit IgG Antibody ReadyProbes Reagent.

	Alexa Fluor 488	Alexa Fluor 594
Common filter	FITC	Texas Red
Ex/Em (nm)	495/518	590/617
Donkey anti-mouse IgG antibody conjugate	R37114	R37115
Goat anti-rabbit IgG antibody conjugate	R37116	R37117
Donkey anti-rabbit IgG antibody conjugate	R37118	R37119
Goat anti-mouse IgG antibody conjugate	R37120	R37121

See moresecondary antibodies

ReadyProbes sample preparation accessories

Imaging accessories makes it easier to handle cell or tissue samples and to prepare for staining and imaging workflow.

Microscopic view of a few fluorescently stained cells that were treated with the ReadyProbes fixation/permeabilization reagent and then labeled with 3 different cell stains.

HeLa cells fixed and permeabilized using the Image-iT Fixation/Permeabilization Kit.

Image-iT fixation and permeabilization Kits

Image-iT fixative and permeabilization solutions and kits are ready-to-go solutions for fluorescence imaging. These reagents are manufactured from high quality ingredients, which helps minimize autofluorescence artifacts. These reagents are also free from impurities, such as methanol, which can interfere with cell/tissue morphology. No more need to handle toxic powders or hard-to-mix reagents, these reagents are designed for all fluorophores, including as Alexa Fluor dyes, FITC, TRITC, GFP and mCherry.

General blockers

General blockers are used in workflows such as, immunocytochemistry (ICC), immunohistochemistry (IHC), or in-situ hybridization (ISH) to help reduce off-target binding of antibodies and other probes/indicators. ReadyProbes blockers are generated with high quality ingredients to help minimize autofluorescence artifacts caused by substandard ingredients. Use these reagents after fixative step but before primary or secondary antibody incubations.

Specific blockers

In fluorescence imaging, reagent and specimen interactions can cause background fluorescence artifacts and non-specific signals. To address these issues, we’ve developed specialized blockers to help minimize these artifacts, so the specific signal can be observed.

Staining/background issue	Probable cause	Solution	Cat. No.
Tissues have background, non-specific fluorescence before adding any fluorophore conjugated reagent to the cells/tissue.	Many tissue types, and some cells have endogenous autofluorescence	ReadyProbes Tissue Autofluorescence Quenching Kit	R37630
Nonspecific signal when adding fluorophore conjugated secondary antibody (without primary antibody)	Static charge on fluorophore-conjugated secondary antibody is causing non-target staining	Image-iT FX Signal Enhancer ReadyProbes Reagent	R37107
Non-specific signal when mouse-originating antibodies are used on mouse tissue	Mouse-originating antibodies target non-specific targets in mouse tissue	ReadyProbes Mouse-on-Mouse IgG Blocking Solution (30X)	R37621
Adding reaction buffer, without HRP/AP–conjugated antibody generates non-specific signal	Many tissue/cells have endogenous peroxidase and/or phosphatase activity	ReadyProbes Endogenous HRP and AP Blocking Solution (1X)	R37629
Adding fluorophore conjugated avidin and/or biotin generates non-specific signal	Many tissue/cells have endogenous avidin and/or biotin, or similar molecules.	ReadyProbes Avidin/Biotin Blocking Solution (1X)	R37627
Adding fluorophore conjugated streptavidin and/or biotin generates non-specific signal	Many tissue/cells have endogenous avidin and/or biotin, or similar molecules.	ReadyProbes Streptavidin/Biotin Blocking Solution (1X)	R37628

See morelive-cell imaging accessories
See morefixed-cell imaging accessories

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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.