DRAQ5™
Far-red nuclear staining for live or fixed cells
DRAQ5™ is a proven far-red fluorescent DNA dye for live-cell and fixed-cell analysis. It provides robust nuclear staining for cytometry, imaging and high-content screening workflows, while remaining compatible with common visible-range fluorophores including GFP/FITC and R-PE
| Workflow need | DRAQ5™ benefit |
|---|---|
| Nuclear counterstaining | Far-red nuclear signal for live or fixed cells |
| Flow cytometry | Nucleated-cell gating and DNA content analysis |
| Imaging workflows | Supports nuclear segmentation, cell counting and assay normalisation |
| Multiplexing | Leaves common visible channels available for antibodies, reporters and probes |
Choose your DRAQ5™ format
DRAQ5™ is available as a 0.5 mM Convenience Pack or as 5 mM Classic Packs in 50 µl, 200 µl and 1 ml sizes. Choose the Convenience Pack for simple dilution, or the Regular, Value and Volume Packs for flexible assay development and higher-throughput use.
Choose your currency:
DRAQ5 Convenience Pack
- 0.5 mM, 1 × 500 µl
- 250 Imaging Assays
- 100 Flow Cytometry Assays
DRAQ5 Regular Pack
- 5 mM, 1 × 50 µl
- 250 Imaging Assays
- 100 Flow Cytometry Assays
DRAQ5 Value Pack
Format
- 5 mM, 1 × 200 µl
Typical output*
- 1000 Imaging Assays
- 6,600 HCS Assays
- 400 Flow Cytometry Assays
DRAQ5 Volume Pack
Format
- 5 mM, 1 × 1 ml
Typical output*
- 33,000 HCS Assays
Volume Discounts Available
Technical Information
- DRAQ5™ is supplied as a deep blue aqueous solution in two concentrations: 0.5mM and 5mM.
- Products are shipped at ambient temperature, but on receipt packs should be stored at 2-8°C. Do NOT freeze! DRAQ5™ can come out of solution when frozen and it is difficult (but not impossible) to get it back into solution.
- DRAQ5™ can be diluted in culture media (e.g. RPMI 1640) and physiological buffers (eg PBS, Hanks’s, etc.) and mixed with fixatives such as formaldehyde.
You can view, share and download the information below by clicking on the links:-
There are over 4,000 independent references for DRAQ5™ online. We have listed some popular papers in the link below for your convenience:
Alternatively you can use the Google Scholar facility below to find exactly what you are looking for. Just type other keywords alongside the product name – such as cell type, instrumentation, research area – in the search box below and Google Scholar will find all of the relevant references online!
You can view, share and download a country specific Safety Data Sheet (PDF) in your language by clicking the relevant flag below:-
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- DRAQ5™ is a small molecule (412DA) belonging to the anthraquinone family. It has peak absorbances at 600nm and 646nm. It fluoresces in the far-red / near infra-red (NIR) peaking at 697nm (bound to dsDNA). On a flow cytometer it is possible to detect DRAQ5™ using blue laser (488nm) excitation.
- DRAQ5™ readily permeates the lipid bilayer of cell membranes and intercalates with high affinity to dsDNA. There is no fluorescence enhancement on binding, thus the measured fluorescence is proportional and stoichiometric to the quantity of nuclear DNA present in the cell. There is no measurable binding to mtDNA (van Zandvoort, 2002) and DRAQ5™ shows negligible binding to RNA.
- DRAQ5 is highly photo-stable (Martin, 2005).
There are many reasons why DRAQ5™ is the DNA dye of choice:-
IT’S EASY – ready-to-use, straight from the fridge without the complications of DMSO, thawing, aliquoting
IT’S FLEXIBLE – a cross-platform DNA dye that works on live or fixed cell and tissue preparations
IT’S RELIABLE – demonstrated on hundreds of cell and tissue types and remarkably photostable
IT’S PROVEN – cited in thousands of peer-reviewed papers to give you confidence
DRAQ5™ can bring significant benefits to your application:
in FLOW CYTOMETRY:
- simplify phenotypic analysis of blood or bone marrow by avoiding RBC lysis and washing steps
- labeling of dsDNA is stoichiometric so you can measure DNA content/cell cycle position cell-by-cell
in IMAGING FLOW CYTOMETRY:
- clear nuclear segmentation in the far-red for morphometrics and multi-colour analysis
in FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY:
- skip the queue for the UV-equipped microscope with this far-red counterstain!
in HIGH CONTENT SCREENING:
- faster plate-read times – no spectral overlap with majority of visible-range flours
- more info from the single channel nucl:cyto segmentation
in IN-CELL WESTERNS:
- robustly quantify the number of cells in each well of a microtiterplate
What our Customers are saying about DRAQ5™:-
- “We find that DRAQ5™ is the most robust DNA dye we have ever used. It stains nuclei much brighter than cytoplasm and allows us to obtain clear images from even the most difficult tissues.”
Melinda K Duncan, Professor, University of Delaware
- “DRAQ5™ is easy to use. In my research, DRAQ5™ was used to determine cellular DNA sets immediately after fluorescence measurement of cellular photosensitizer, giving quantitive analysis of drug uptake. The quality of experiment was excellent.”
Yan Baglo PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- “Staining with DRAQ5™ was very easy and quick, and it worked very sensitively on both paraffin embedded and fresh frozen placental tissue sections.
As the spectra of DRAQ5™ and FITC did not interfere, the nuclei stained sharply with no background.”
Nandor Gabor Than, MD, PhD, Semmelweis University / Wayne State University
- DRAQ5™ is the only reagent to be recognised in the Platinum, Gold or Silver rankings amongst the tens of thousands of products listed at SelectScience.net. It was awarded a GOLD Seal of Quality, reflecting the satisfaction of scientists around the world who chose DRAQ5™ for their research.