Citifluor CFM-1+Antifaden

Citifluor CFM-1+Antifadent is a glycerol-phosphate buffered saline based mountant solution has been specially formulated so as to have a refractive index of ~ 1.52 (at room temperature) and contains an antifadent to retard the bleaching of fluorochromes. Its refractive index is similar to glass and therefore effects of refraction on image quality are minimised. The solution may also be used as an immersion oil. The CFM-1 plus antifadent solution 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 and where bleaching of the fluorochrome occurs. The solutions should also be very valuable for laser scanning microscopy where three-dimensional imaging of specimens is carried out e.g. with confocal fluorescence microscopy where integrity of the image has to be maintained.
 A few drops of the solution should be applied to the specimen followed by a cover slip. An immersion oil (which may be CFM-1 plus antifadent solution if its viscosity is appropriate) is applied in the usual way.
Citifluor CFM-1 plus antifadent 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 solutions are of medium viscosity, are water-white in appearance and have a pH of ~10. 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.