Beckman Coulter Life Sciences IR820 and IR870 infrared dye antibody conjugates

Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, a Danaher company, has launched its IR820 and IR870 infrared dye antibody conjugates. The products provide research flow cytometry labs with a low-noise solution, including single laser excitation, no dye interference, negligible overlap with other fluorochrome emissions and ultralow autofluorescence background.

The IR820 and IR870 reagents are claimed to be the industry’s first directly conjugated antibodies for infrared excitation. They are suitable for lineage marker staining, offering high brightness to clearly identify respective gating antigens, while leaving detection of non-infrared dyes uncompromised due to near-to-complete absence of spectral overlap. Lineage gating markers now can be added or, if already existing in the antibody panel, moved far away from commonly used spectral ranges where typically the most precious dim signals reside.

Current flow cytometry fluorochrome conjugates do not cover the infrared range. Lineage markers used for identification of major subpopulations typically reside in the same spectral ranges as probes for weak co-expressed antigens, enabling characterisation of subpopulations and their functional status. By this spectral colocalisation, typically bright lineage markers may compromise resolution and sensitive detection of their dimmer co-expressed companions.

The infrared dye conjugates, with their low-noise design, remove complexities and allow for a more flexible antibody panel design. The products are suitable for users of IR-equipped CytoFLEX LX and S instruments, helping to extend human phenotyping experiments into an easy-to-navigate spectral range by enabling greater clarity.

IR820 and IR870 are non-tandem dyes which can be excited at 808 nm and emit with maximal intensity at 835 and 896 nm, corresponding to the 840/20 nm and 885/40 nm or similar bandpass filters. The Research Use Only reagents comprise CD3, CD4, CD8, CD14, CD20 and CD45 specificities, and are manufactured under current Good Manufacturing Practices.