Labeling Pinocytotic Vesicles and Cytoplasm with Fluorescently Labeled Ficoll or Dextran
Adapted from Imaging: A Laboratory Manual (ed. Yuste). CSHL Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2010.INTRODUCTION
Dextran, a high molecular weight poly-D-glucose, and ficoll, a synthetic polymer of epichlorhydrin and sucrose, are electroneutral hydrophilic polysaccharides whose size can be varied. This variability in size coupled with their membrane impermeability can make them useful for studying fluid phase pinocytosis, the size of membrane pores such as nuclear membrane pores, or the environmental conditions and the size of a cell compartment. In this protocol, two fluorophores based on fluorescein and rhodamine are used to label either dextran or ficoll. The resulting probes can then be used to label cells.
