Lumiprobe SynaptoProbe Red dye for visualising synaptic vesicles in living neurons

Lumiprobe’s SynaptoProbe Red is an analogue of FM 4-64, a widely used red fluorescent dye for studying synaptic activity in the synapses or neuromuscular junctions by staining synaptic vesicles.

The dye is water-soluble and non-toxic to cells. It is non-fluorescent in an aqueous medium but becomes highly fluorescent after embedding into the outer leaflet of the cell membrane. When a neuron actively releases neurotransmitters, the dye becomes internalised within the recycled synaptic vesicles and stains the nerve terminals.

The product has an excitation/absorption maximum of 536 nm and an emission maximum of 736 nm. It can be used to visualise synaptic vesicles and their exocytosis and endocytosis in living neurons, identify actively firing neurons and investigate the mechanisms of activity-dependent vesicle cycling. It is also helpful for the visualisation of shear stress-induced plasma membrane damage in fibroblasts.