Citifluor CFM-3

Citifluor CFM-3 + Antifadent is a glycerol-phosphate based mountant solution containing an antifadent has been specially formulated to have a refractive index of ~ 1.52 (at room temperature) i.e. a refractive index similar to glass so that effects of refraction on image quality are minimised. This mountant solution may also be used as an immersion oil. The Citifluor CFM solutions will be particularly useful for high magnification work where immersion oils are use to minimise distortion of the image due to refraction of the viewing light. The solutions should also be particularly valuable for lasing scanning microscopy where three-dimensional imaging of specimens is carried out e.g. with confocal microscopy.
 The antifadent should alleviate the fading of DAPI and Alexa dyes, Cye (cyanine) dyes, Hoechst dye, as well as other commonly used fluorophores.
 The specimen should be washed with the buffer solution appropriate for maximising the fluorescence of the fluorochrome before a few drops of the solution are applied to the specimen followed by a cover slip. An immersion oil (which may be Citifluor CFM solution if its viscosity is appropriate) is applied in the usual way.
The Citifluor CFM-1 mountant/immersion oils should only be used with fixed i.e. cross-linked samples since linear biopolymers e.g. linear proteins, are solubilised by the mountant/immersion oils due to them containing a surfactant-type species

The solution is of medium viscosity, is water-white in appearance and has a pH of ~6.5. The solution may be stored at room temperature. The cap of the bottles should always be replaced after use, to prevent evaporation of water. Samples stored under these conditions for 6 months have been found to exhibit little apparent deterioration.