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AqT® Small Molecule Fluorescence Dye

Most fluorescent compounds are very hydrophobic making it very difficult to load more than 4 dye molecules per antibody/protein without forming any aggregation or precipitation. Even if the dye loading can be increased for some antibodies (e.g., to 6-8 fluorescein per antibody) the amplification of the signal is not proportional due to the aggregation or stacking of the aromatic core (fluorescence quenching).

AqT®-dye (dye modified with AqT® linkers) contains multiple OH groups that can interact with neighboring water molecules and create a microenvironment that prevents or shields neighboring dyes from stacking, such that antibody/protein labeled with a high amount of AqT™-dye will have a proportional increase in signal based on the number of dye molecules loaded.

Our initial experiments show that AqT®-fluorescein has a vivid and bright color compared to unmodified fluorescein. With the same dye loading, AqT®-fluorescein-labeled antibody has a few times higher signal than fluorescein-labeled antibody. AqT®-dye does not introduce an ionic group that can change the properties of antibodies, as occurs in most of the modified commercial dyes with increased water solubility. AqT®-linker hydrophilicity depends on the hydroxyl (-OH) group (charge neutral).

CellMosaic is currently developing AqT® fluorescent dyes with maximum absorbance ranging from the UV to Vis wavelength: AqT® 343, AqT® 445, AqT® 496, AqT® 555, AqT® 560, AqT® 570, AqT® 646, AqT® 750. These dyes will be used to create PerKit® conjugation kits and ready-to-use reagent products.

If you are interested in using such products or co-developing AqT® dye-based products, click here to learn about partnering with CellMosaic.

Coming soon!