Nile Red

Nile red (Nile blue oxazone) is a lipophilic stain. Nile red has environment-sensitive fluorescence. Nile red is intensely fluorescent in a lipid-rich environment while it has minimal fluorescence in aqueous media. Nile red is an excellent vital stain for the detection of intracellular lipid droplets by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytof uorometry. Nile red stains intracellular lipid droplets red. The fluorescence wavelength is 559/635 nm[1].

[1]Gibrán S Alemán-Nava, et al. How to use Nile Red, a selective fluorescent stain for microalgal neutral lipids. J Microbiol Methods. 2016 Sep;128:74-79.|[2]Wilber Escorcia, et al. Quantification of Lipid Abundance and Evaluation of Lipid Distribution in Caenorhabditis elegans by Nile Red and Oil Red O Staining. J Vis Exp. 2018 Mar 5;(133):57352.|[3]Elizabeth C Pino, et al. Biochemical and high throughput microscopic assessment of fat mass in Caenorhabditis elegans. J Vis Exp. 2013 Mar 30;(73):50180.|[4]Greenspan P, et al. Nile red: a selective fluorescent stain for intracellular lipid droplets. J Cell Biol. 1985 Mar;100(3):965-73.