Lipid Droplet Assay Kit - Blue

Description

Lipid droplets (LDs) are composed of neutral lipids such as triacylglycerol and cholesteryl esters surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer, and are found not only in adipocytes but also ubiquitously in eukaryotic organisms. Although LDs were originally considered to be a type of lipid storage machinery, a recent study has shown that LDs play an important role in regulating lipid metabolism, autophagy, cellular senescence, and differentiation.

Oil Red O and Nile Red staining are widely used to detect LDs. The method using Oil Red O has the following disadvantages: 1) time-consuming and complicated procedure, 2) Oil Red O tends to precipitate in solution, 3) precipitated Oil Red O may cause errors of measurement, and 4) only applicable for fixed cells. On the other hand, the method using Nile Red partly overcomes the disadvantages of Oil Red O. However, Nile Red is not a well-suited method for lipid droplet assay due to its high background.

Unlike Oil Red O and Nile Red, the Lipid Droplet Assay Kit - Blue and Deep Red enable selective and easy measuring of LDs as per the enclosed protocol. The Staining Dye in this kit minimizes background due to more selective staining ability to LDs than Nile Red. In addition, the Loading Buffer solution contained in this kit maintains the health of the cells during assays. This kit can be used for live and fixed cells in flow cytometry analysis and plate reader assay.