Protocols
Bench Prep
CLARITY resources: Using CLARITY for imaging samples
Review article on Clarifying tissues
Sample preparation for immunofluorescence
Useful Information for Live Cell Imaging compiled for the Live Cell Tour (2012)
Coverslip thickness
High resolution microscope objectives are designed to be used with a 170um thick glass coverslip which corresponds to #1.5(H). Microscope objectives perform poorly when imaging through thinner or thicker glass. Using the wrong thickness of coverslip introduces spherical aberration in the image which results in dimmer fluorescence.
Nikon's MicroscopyU has a great writeup on this topic.
Purchasing Information
Mounting Media
Mounting medium helps preserve your sample and raises the refractive index to give good performance with oil objectives. Mountants often have scavengers which soak-up free radicals and reduce photobleaching, although these sometimes reduce the initial brightness of your samples. Check to see if your mounting medium is compatible with your fluorophores!
Fluorophores
FPbase--The Fluorescent Protein Database
Handbook of Cellular Probes
Comprehensive guide of the various dye, stains, and other molecules for cell imaging that are sold by Molecular Probes
A guide to choosing fluorescent proteins
Two-photon probes for in vivo multicolor microscopy of the structure and signals of brain cells.
