SlowFade® Gold antifade reagents

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagents

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


Select SlowFade® Gold antifade reagents

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent

  • Inhibits photobleaching across the spectrum
  • Non-setting formulation
  • Available with or without DAPI
  • Ready-to-use bench-top formulation
  • Refractive index 1.42

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent is best for immediate analysis and short-term storage. For long-term analysis and choose one of our ProLong® Gold antifade reagents.

SlowFade® Gold antifade 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® Gold antifade reagent

Tetrahymena pyriformis staining using mouse anti beta-tubulin monoclonal antibody.

Tetrahymena pyriformis were cultured with EdU, Click-iT® GalNAz glycoprotein labeling reagent, and InSpeck™ Blue (350/440) Intensity Calibration microspheres. Following fix/perm using Image-iT™ Fixation/Permeabilization kit, EdU-incorporated DNA was labeled with Alexa Fluor® 488 azide and GalNAz-incorporated cellular components with Alexa Fluor® 555 alkyne. Cilia were labeled with anti-beta-tubulin Ab and Alexa Fluor® 647 secondary Ab. Imaging followed mounting in SlowFade® Gold.

Protection across the spectrum

SlowFade® Gold antifade reagents offer excellent compatibility with a multitude of dyes across the spectrum, making them especially valuable tools for multicolor applications.


SlowFade® Gold Antifade Reagent

Multiplex FISH detection using SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent, FISH Tag™ RNA and TSA™ kits.

In a whole mount Drosophila embryo, the expression of Krupple (magenta) and rhomboid (orange) were detected using FISH Tag™ RNA Kits with Alexa Fluor® 647 dye and Alexa Fluor® 555 dye or the Multicolor Kit. The expression of dpp was performed with a fluorescein-labeled RNA probe ChromaTide® fluorescein-12-UTP and detected with TSA™ Kit #2 with Alexa Fluor® 488 tyramide and Anti-fluorescein/Oregon Green®, rabbit IgG fraction, horseradish peroxidase conjugate.

Antifade reagents selection guide

 
Long-term storage No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Immediate viewing Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No
Counterstain No No DAPI DAPI No No DAPI DAPI
Format 5 x 2 mL 5 x 2 mL
Cat. No. S36937 S36936 S36939 S36938 P36934 P36930 P36935 P36931

SlowFade® Gold performance across the spectrum

Degree of photobleaching protection by SlowFade® Gold antifade reagent for different fluorescent dyes.

Fluorescent dye
Ex/Em (nm)
Resistance to photobleaching*
Alexa Fluor® 350  346/442 55%
DAPI 345/455 69%
BODIPY® FL  505/513 80%
Alexa Fluor® 488 495/519 90%
SYTOX® Green  504/533 77%
Fluorescein  494/518 78%
Cy®3 550/570 83%
Alexa Fluor® 546 556/575 76%
Tetramethylrhodamine  555/580 75%
Alexa Fluor® 555  555/565 89%
Alexa Fluor® 568 578/603 88%
Texas Red® 595/615 75%
Alexa Fluor® 594  590/617 92%
TO-PRO®-3  642/661 72%
Alexa Fluor® 647  652/668 100%
Cy®5 650/670 100%
Alexa Fluor® 680  679/702 96%
*Expressed as a percentage of initial fluorescence intensity remaining following 30 seconds of continuous illumination using a 40x/1.4NA objective and a 100-watt Hg-arc lamp as the light source.

Green chemistry

green chemistry  

For added convenience and a reduction in the environmental impact associated with cold storage requirements, Life Technologies 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.