CitiFluor™ AF1, Mounting Medium

Description

Storage and Shelf-Life

AF1 solutions may be stored at room temperature and ideally between 5° and 15°C and out of strong sunlight. The cap of the bottle (or if using the pipette supplied with the material, the cap which covers the pipette delivery point) should always be replaced after use as a matter of good practice. Samples stored under these conditions for 6 months have shown no apparent deterioration. If the AF1 solution is being used in an assay, a control experiment should always be carried out.

Usage and Useful Tips

In some cases, the reduction in the rate of PHOTOBLEACHING may be accompanied by a reduction in the initial intensity of the fluorescence signal. By diluting the AF1 solution with glycerol the reduction in the intensity of the fluorescence signal can oftentimes be mitigated.

Dilution of AF1 with glycerol will increase its refractive index whereas dilution with water will reduce its refractive index.

The solution should be pipetted onto the specimen and then a cover slip applied. If the slides are stored in a refrigerator, the viscosity of the mountant solution increases thereby helping to keep the cover slip in place. There is no need to seal the cover slip with nail varnish.

AF1 can also be used to make up a hardening mountant. To a poly(vinyl alcohol) e.g. Airvol 203(Air products) or Mowiol 4-88 (Calbiochem) solution (20% in water) add ~20% by volume of AF1. This solution is best used soon after it is prepared as it doesn’t have a long shelf-life.

Obtaining the correct viscosity for your application

If the viscosity of the AF1 solution is too high for your purposes, it may be admixed with AF3 mountant (a PBS solution of the same antifadent as is present in AF1) solution. As the amount of AF 3 solution is increased so the viscosity decreases.

Conversely, if you wish to have a higher viscosity add AF2 mountant solution to the AF1 solution.

For more information please see our Info-Box.