Fluorescent & Luminescent Probes

Fluorescent and luminescent probes are indispensable tools for modern life science research, enabling sensitive detection, real-time monitoring, multiplex analysis and quantitative measurement of biological processes. From live-cell imaging and calcium flux assays to nucleic acid detection, reactive oxygen species measurement and high-throughput screening, researchers rely on high-performance probes to generate robust and reproducible data.

AAT Bioquest is a leading developer of innovative fluorescent dyes, bioconjugation reagents, assay kits and luminescent detection technologies. They offer a comprehensive range of industry-recognised labelling, detection and imaging solutions such as iFluor® and mFluor™ dyes and Calbryte™ calcium indicators. Safe for applications across cellular imaging, flow cytometry, diagnostics and drug discovery, enabling researchers to accelerate scientific discovery.

Why researchers chose AAT Bioquest probes and dyes:

  ► AAT Bioquest fluorescent and luminescent probes provide:

  ► High-sensitivity detection with bright, low-background signals

  ► Compatible with fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry and multiplex assays

  ► Supports live-cell and fixed-cell imaging applications

  ► Enables quantitative functional and cellular analysis

  ► Simple, reproducible workflows for research and screening applications

Fluorescent & Luminescent Probe Categories

Fluorescent Dyes and Labelling Reagents

iFluor® Dyes

The iFluor dye family provides bright, photostable fluorophores spanning UV, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. These dyes are optimised for antibody conjugation, protein labelling, flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy applications, offering strong fluorescence intensity and excellent spectral separation for multiplex experiments.

Figure 1:  Actin filaments visualized with Phalloidin-iFluor® conjugates. Respectively, F-actin, nucleus, and lysosomes were stained with Phalloidin iFluor® 488, Nuclear Blue™ DCS1, and LysoBrite™ Red.

mFluor™ Dyes

mFluor dyes are a family of fluorescent labelling dyes developed by AAT Bioquest for multicolour flow cytometry, spectral flow cytometry, immunophenotyping, FACS, and biomolecule labelling applications. They span a broad spectral range from the UV to near-infrared (NIR) region and are designed to be excited by the major laser lines used in modern flow cytometers.

ReadiLink™ Antibody Labelling Kits

ReadiLink kits allow rapid labelling of antibodies with fluorescent dyes or biotin using a simple workflow that requires no purification step. These kits simplify custom conjugation and enable researchers to generate labelled antibodies quickly and reproducibly for immunoassays, flow cytometry and imaging studies.

Calcium Indicators

Calbryte™ Calcium Indicators

The Calbryte family has become one of the most popular alternatives to traditional calcium indicators. These probes provide exceptional brightness and high signal-to-background ratios for monitoring intracellular calcium flux in live cells. They are particularly useful in GPCR signalling research, ion channel studies and functional screening.

Cytoskeleton Imaging Probes

Actin Lightning™ Stains

Actin Lightning probes provide bright and durable staining of F-actin structures in both fixed and live cells. The probes enable detailed visualisation of cytoskeletal organisation while maintaining excellent image contrast.

Tubulite™ Tubulin Probes

Tubulite stains enable visualisation of microtubule networks and cellular architecture across multiple fluorescence channels, making them valuable tools for cell morphology and drug response studies.

Cell Health & Viability Probes

Cell Meter™ Assays

The Cell Meter range includes viability, apoptosis, oxidative stress and cell function assays designed to deliver fast and reproducible data from both microscopy and flow cytometry platforms.

Live & Dead Cell Assays

AAT Bioquest offers fixable and non-fixable viability assays suitable for both flow cytometry and fluorescence imaging applications. These assays enable accurate discrimination between healthy, compromised and dead cells. In addition to cell viability, they can be used for apoptosis detection and drug toxicity studies

Figure 3: Imaging Assay of Live or Dead™ Cell Viability. The mixture of two cells (Live/Fixed=50/50) of Jurkat cells were analyzed with Live or Dead™ Cell Viability Assay Kit (Cat# 22789), imaged in FITC and TRITC channels with fluorescence microscope.

Signal Amplification Technologies

Power Styramide™ Signal Amplification

Power Styramide technology provides highly sensitive detection of low-abundance antigens and biomarkers in tissue sections and cell-based assays. Signal amplification enables visualization of targets that may be difficult to detect using conventional immunofluorescence approaches. This can be particularly useful for IHC, spatial biology and biomarker discovery of low-expression level proteins.

Nucleic Acid Detection Probes

Gelite™ Safe Nucleic Acid Stains

Gelite Safe provides a sensitive alternative for DNA detection during gel electrophoresis. The stain delivers strong fluorescence while supporting routine nucleic acid analysis workflows, with reduced handling concerns compared to ethidium-bromide-based methods.

Figure 4: Comparison of DNA detection in 1% agarose gel in TBE buffer using Gelite™ Safe, EtBr, and SYBR® Safe. Two-fold serial dilutions of 1 kb DNA ladder were loaded in amounts of 100 ng, 50 ng, and 25 ng from left to right. Gels were stained for 60 minutes with Gelite™ Safe, EtBr, and SYBR® Safe according to the manufacturer's recommended concentrations and imaged using the ChemiDoc™ Imaging System (Bio-Rad®). Gels were illuminated using a 300 nm transilluminator fitted with GelGreen and GelRed filters.

CyTRAK Orange™

CyTRAK Orange stains are widely used for nucleic acid and cellular component detection, supporting microscopy and flow cytometry applications where bright orange fluorescence is desired.

Luminescent Probes and Assays

Amplite™ Luminescent Platforms

The Amplite product family includes luminescent and chemiluminescent assay solutions designed for sensitive biomolecule quantification and enzyme activity measurement.  They have a wide dynamic range and are compatible with microplate screening platforms for high throughput ATP, enzyme and drug discovery assays.

Choosing the Right Probe

Materials available for download

Cell viability and proliferation selection guide

Fluorescent infrared dyes and probes selection guide

Secondary detection probes and kits selection guide