SlowFade® antifade reagentsSlowFade® antifade reagents suppress photobleaching and preserve the signals of your fluorescently labeled target molecules for analysis. SlowFade® antifade reagents do not cure over time, and samples can be viewed immediately. SlowFade® reagents are intended for short-term preservation (3–4 weeks), and samples may degrade over longer periods. Key benefits of SlowFade® antifade reagents include:

  • Inhibit photobleaching across the spectrum
  • Non-setting mountants
  • Available with or without DAPI
  • Ready-to-use bench-top formulations
  • Refractive index 1.42
Choose the antifade reagent that matches your experiment

Performance of SlowFade® antifade reagents

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent performance

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent outperforms all other commercially available antifade reagents because it preserves signal across the entire visible spectrum and causes little or no quenching of the initial fluorescent signal.

SlowFade® Diamond antifade reagent performance

SlowFade® Diamond antifade reagent delivers all the performance of SlowFade® Gold reagent with Alexa Fluor® dyes and provides additional protection for traditional dyes and fluorescent proteins. SlowFade® Diamond reagent is a superior antifade and mountant, offering protection across the visible spectrum. Keep SlowFade® Diamond reagent refrigerated for the best performance.

Performance of SlowFade® antifade reagents

A 60-second time-lapse showing the enhanced resistance to photobleaching afforded by SlowFade® antifade reagents. Fixed HeLa cells were labeled with fluorescein phalloidin and mounted in SlowFade® Diamond, SlowFade® Gold or 50% PBS/glycerol. Images were aquired at 12-second intervals using a 20x objective with continuous illumination from a standard 100-watt Hg-arc lamp.

SlowFade® antifade reagents

Photobleaching resistance for fluorescent dyes and proteins with SlowFade® reagents. Photobleaching resistance was quantified on a LSM 710 (Zeiss) confocal microscope. HeLa or U2OS cells were stained and mounted using standard ICC protocols. Five regions within three fields of view were scanned 50x with a 1.58 μs dwell time per pixel. Excitation wavelength and intensity were optimized for the fluorophore being measured.

SlowFade® reagent gallery

Find the right SlowFade® antifade reagent

 
SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent
SlowFade® Diamond antifade reagent
Alexa Fluor® dyes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Traditional dyes & FPs
No
No
Yes
Yes
RT storage
Yes
Yes
No
No
Counterstain
No
DAPI
No
DAPI
Format
5 x 2 mL
10 mL
5 x 2 mL
10 mL
5 x 2 mL
5 x 2 mL
Cat. No.
S36937
S36936
S36939
S36938
Performance across the spectrum

SlowFade® Diamond reagent is a superior antifade and mountant, offering protection across the visible spectrum and exhibiting less initial quenching of the fluorescent signal. It provides additional protection for traditional dyes such as FITC and fluorescent proteins such as GFP. In a comparison of commercially available soft-mount antifade reagents in a standardized experiment, SlowFade® mountants outperformed other products in both confocal and bright-field applications.

Comparison of degree of photobleaching protection by SlowFade® antifades for various fluorescent dyes


SlowFade® Gold
SlowFade® Diamond		VECTASHIELD®
Mounting Medium
Fluorescent dye
Ex/Em (nm)
Resistance to photobleaching*
Hoechst®
350/461
100%
100%
90%
DAPI
345/455
90%
90%
90%
BODIPY® FL
505/513
90%
100%
90%
Alexa Fluor® 488
495/519
80%
100%
90%
GFP
488/510
50%
90%
90%
Fluorescein
494/518
90%
90%
90%
Cy®3
550/570
80%
80%
70%
Alexa Fluor® 546
556/575
100%
100%
100%
Tetramethylrhodamine
555/580
80%
100%
70%
Alexa Fluor® 555
555/565
90%
90%
90%
Alexa Fluor® 568
578/603
80%
90%
90%
Texas Red®
595/615
90%
100%
90%
Alexa Fluor® 594
590/617
90%
100%
90%
TO-PRO®-3
642/661
80%
100%
100%
Alexa Fluor® 647
652/668
90%
100%
0%
Cy®5
650/670
100%
100%
90%
*The degree of photobleaching protection is compiled from a combination of bright field exposure and confocal scanning data to represent typical user experience in fluorescence imaging applications.
VECTASHIELD is a registered trademark of Vector Laboratories, Inc., Burlingame, CA. Hoechst is a trademark of Hoechst, GmbH. Cy is a trademark of GE Healthcare UK, Ltd.

Green chemistry

green chemistry

 

For added convenience and a reduction in the environmental impact associated with cold storage requirements, our antifade reagents are provided in dropper bottles with storage right at your bench. In addition, these reagents are formulated with reduced sodium azide to help minimize environmental and health hazard exposure risks. Learn more about these green chemistry initiatives

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