"Robust Nuclear Counterstaining with DRAQ5 in Live-Cell Confocal Imaging"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        Live-cell fluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: In our work using live-cell confocal fluorescence microscopy, DRAQ5 was used as a nuclear counterstain to provide a clear and reliable cellular landmark during imaging experiments. The study focused on the intracellular localization of photoluminescent Ru(II) supramolecular assemblies, where accurate discrimination between cytoplasmic and nuclear signal was essential. DRAQ5 produced a strong, well-defined nuclear fluorescence signal that was spectrally resolved from the emission of the Ru(II) complex, enabling confident assignment of subcellular localization in live cells.

DRAQ5 performed consistently across experiments, displaying excellent membrane permeability and rapid nuclear staining without the need for fixation or permeabilization. Its high photostability allowed extended imaging sessions with minimal photobleaching. The relatively low-energy excitation wavelength reduced phototoxicity and cellular stress, preserving cell morphology and viability during live-cell imaging.

Overall, DRAQ5 proved to be an effective and reliable nuclear counterstain for multichannel live-cell fluorescence microscopy. Its high signal-to-noise ratio, compatibility with other chromophores, and minimal interference with photoactive metal complexes made it an ideal choice for our application. We would readily recommend DRAQ5 for studies requiring precise nuclear identification in live-cell imaging contexts.

Citation

Laisney, J.; Kriger, S. M.; Havrylyuk, D.; Unrine, J. M.; Heidary, D. K.; Glazer, E. C. Supramolecular Self-Assemblies of Ru(II) Phototherapeutics: Biological Activity of Micro- and Nano-Particles Acting as Reservoirs. J. Mater. Chem. B 2026, 10.1039.D5TB01785H. https://doi.org/10.1039/D5TB01785H.

Name: Sarah M Kriger

Organisation: NC State University, USA

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Sarah, thank you for the detailed review of DRAQ5.  This is a very interesting application area and others in the field of Ru(II) complex chemistry field should benefit from your experience.

"Draq5 stable marker"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    not required 

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           3.5

Comments: DRAQ5 was used to label the nuclei because the 405 nm channel was occupied by a required chromogen. The only minor disadvantages are the longer incubation time and the higher cost.

Name: Ehret

Organisation: TU Dresden

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Dr Ehret, thank you for your informative review; far-red DRAQ5 is ideal for situations when the violet channel is occupied by another important marker, yet it also allows for other visible range chromophores to be used with in direct combination.

"Excellent dye for far-red spectrum."

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ7

Application Area:        Flow Cytometry

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.0

Comments: Works perfect for flow cytometry.

Name: Jaromír Vašíček

Organisation: NPPC-RIAP Nitra, Slovensko

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Jaromir, thank you for posting a review on DRAQ7.  We are delighted that you got the results you expected from it in your research work on improving ovine fertilization efficiency.

"DRAQ5 detects DNA in platelets"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: I’ve been really pleased with DRAQ5 and have found it both reliable and easy to work with. I’ve used it for flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopy, and even when detecting very small amounts of DNA (in platelets!) it was sensitive enough to give clear, consistent results. It’s straightforward to use, works well across different applications, and is also very reasonably priced - overall, a great reagent that I’d highly recommend.

Name: Lauren Murphy

Organisation: University of Oxford, United Kingdom

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Lauren, thank you for your review of DRAQ5.  Even after 25 years here's a novel application where you are pushing the boundaries by detecting such small quantities of DNA in platelets!

"DRAQ5"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.5

Comments: DRAQ5 was used for live imaging of tumor tissue or cells with confocal microscope. It is a stable dye and not very toxic. It works well for our live imaging

Name: Meng Dong

Organisation: Dr. Margarete Fischer-Bosch Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Germany

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Meng, thank you for your review of DRAQ5.  We appreciated the protocol you have developed to better recapitulate MCL biology in a 3D culture.  Thiel, et al. JoVE 223 (2025): e68417.

"Assay for Measuring Viability in presence of AP and PA by DRAQ7TM staining"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ7

Application Area:        Flow Cytometry

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.0

Comments: To test the effects APPA (10 µg/ml), AP (2.3 and 10 µg/ml) and PA (7.7 and 10 µg/ml) on T/C28a2 chondrocyte viability, DRAQ7TM (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA, USA) was used. Following 24 hours (h) of different treatments, cells were trypsinized and centrifuged at 1,500 rpm for 10 minutes (min). The harvested cells were suspended in 3 µM of the fluorescent dye DRAQ7TM (Thermo Fisher) and incubated in the dark, at room temperature (rt) for 10 min. The samples were run on CytoFLeX flow cytometer (Beckman Coulter Inc. Pasadena, Ca, USA). At least 1x104 cells per assay were measured. Data were analyzed using CyExpert V 2.5 software (Beckman Coulter Inc). Positive control cells were treated with 5 µM Eto plus 10 ng/µl OSM while negative control (Basal) represented cells without treatment.

Name: Mercedes Fernández Moreno

Organisation: INIBIC-GIR, Spain

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Mercedes, thank you for your review of DRAQ7.  We very much enjoyed your article, and the promising results to support further research on a pair of plant-derived phenolics to mitigate the impact of osteoarthritis. Fernández-Moreno, et al. Pharmaceuticals 18.9 (2025): 1386.

"Versatile and Reliable Nuclear Stain for FACS and Confocal Imaging"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Cell Sorting

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: We used Invitrogen™ eBioscience™ DRAQ5™ primarily as a far-red nuclear stain for both flow cytometry (FACS) and confocal microscopy applications. In flow cytometry, DRAQ5 provided rapid and uniform nuclear staining, enabling accurate discrimination of nucleated cells from debris. Its far-red emission allowed us to combine it with commonly used fluorophores such as FITC, PE, and APC, without significant spectral overlap, thus expanding our multicolor panel design.

For cell sorting, DRAQ5 proved particularly useful in identifying nucleated versus enucleated cells and facilitated precise gating strategies. The dye’s rapid uptake, even without permeabilization, made it highly suitable for live-cell analysis and sorting with minimal sample preparation.

In confocal microscopy, DRAQ5 provided sharp, high-contrast nuclear labeling with minimal photobleaching. Its far-red excitation minimized phototoxicity and avoided interference with green and red fluorophores, allowing us to perform multiplexed imaging of protein markers in both fixed and live-cell conditions.

Overall, DRAQ5 performed robustly across both platforms, delivering reproducible results and consistent staining quality. We selected it for its spectral properties, ease of integration into FACS workflows, and compatibility with confocal imaging, and it has become a reliable part of our staining toolkit.

Name: Rizwanul Haque

Organisation: Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Rizwanul, thank you so much for this comprehensive description of the rationale for your choice of DRAQ5.  As you rightly say this is one tool in a very big toolbox!

"DraQ5 used as nuclei staining in CK1alpha deficient megakaryocytes"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DraQ5 was used in a 1:1000 dilution for immunofluorescence staining of murine megakaryocytes to highlight and perfectly display the polyploidal nuclei lobulations within the megakaryocytes. 2D as well as 3D rendered images were aquired and evaluated.

Name: Ferdinand Kollotzek

Organisation: Department of Cardiology and Angiology, Tübingen

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Ferdinand, thank you for the generous review of DRAQ5.  We are always fascinated by cells like MKs which undergo such dramatic terminal differentiation to platelets!

"The product has proven itself in confocal microscopy"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: DRAQ5 was used in confocal microscopy. The dye worked well. The results were of high quality.

Name: KLIMOVA ELENA

Organisation: V.N. Karazin Kharkov National University, Ukraine

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Elena, thank you so much for taking the time to provide a review of DRAQ5.

"Easy to use and strong signal"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ7

Application Area:        High Content / Phenotypic Screening

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.5

Comments: I use DRAQ7 to monitor cell death by high content imaging. The signal is strong with very low background, which makes it easy to find a threshold value for cell counting.

Name: Frédéric Catez

Organisation: Cancer Research Center of Lyon, France

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Frédéric, thank you for taking the time to review DRAQ7!  You make an important technical comment about the rationale for DRAQ7 in assays on automated high content platforms such as Revvity's Opera Phenix.

"Nuclei FACs sorting"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Cell Sorting

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    Not required

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments:

Name: Shirin Schneeberger

Organisation: Charite, Germany

Nuclei of mouse spleen cells were stained with Draq5 dye (1:500) (Abcam, Cambridge, UK) and slides were mounted into ProLong ®Gold Antifade Reagent (Cell Signaling Technology, MA, USA).

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence microscopy

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: To our experience, the best staining was achieved when dye Draq5 was added to cells together with the fluorescent secondary antibody  and incubated at least 1 hr at room temperature.

Name: Gabriela Hrčková

Organisation: Anon., Slovakia

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Gabriela, thank you for your technical feedback on the use of DRAQ5 in immunofluorescence methods - combining antibodies and DRAQ5 is a nice way to streamline a procedure. 

"DRAQ5 for confocal imaging"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Confocal Imaging

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: DRAQ5 was used for nucleus staining in our study. 

Performance: Great 

Easy to handle

Name: Savita Choudhary

Organisation: BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus

"A Convenient Staining Solution for Phenotypic Screening"

PRODUCT:                  CyTRAK Orange

Application Area:        High Content / Phenotypic Screening

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments: We used CyTRAK Orange to stain cultured cells in a phenotypic screening of small-molecule compounds. This dye enabled clear and simultaneous distinction between the nucleus and cytoplasm with a single staining step, consistently delivering reliable results. In our imaging-based phenotypic analysis, CyTRAK Orange significantly simplified image processing compared to dyes that stain only the nucleus, as it provided precise spatial information on both the cytoplasm and nucleus within fluorescent images. Overall, CyTRAK Orange proved to be a convenient and dependable staining solution, making it an invaluable tool in our research.

Name: Junichi Sawada

Organisation: University of Shizuoka, Japan

.........................................

Manufacturer's response: Dear Junichi -san, Thank you for this generous review of CyTRAK Orange.  You have cleverly maximised the information that can be extracted from your cell-based assay and its seems CyTRAK Orange played a useful part in that!

"good lipid stain"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ9
Application Area:        Short-term membrane staining

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments:                 DRAQ9 was a gift from BioStatus. We used it to determine if the vacuoles that we were observing in mammalian cells under hypotonic stress are surrounded by a lipid membrane. DiI that we tried before failed to stain the vacuoles, but with DRAQ9 the result was unequivocally positive: a bright staining was easily detectable under a confocal microscope. The presence of lipid was confirmed with Nile Red. We published the image in Fig. 5 of https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-79815-z.pdf

Name: Michael Model

Organisation: Kent State University

"very good and easy to work with"

PRODUCT:  DRAQ7
Application Area:  Biochemistry

Ease of Use:	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5.0)
After Sales Service:	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5.0)
Value for Money:	⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.0)
Average Rating:	4.7

Comments:  Very good and easy to work with. We use it in almost all projects in our lab.

Name: Rodrigo Oliveira
Organisation: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru
Review Date: 28 Nov 2024

---

"easy and useful"

PRODUCT:              DRAQ5

Application Area:     Neuroscience, confocal microscopy

Ease of Use:             ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Value for Money:       ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.7

Comments:               It's easy to identify the target, and the signal is strong enough to capture the image.

Name: Hao-Jung Cheng

Organisation: National Sun Yat-Sen University

"molecular biology"

PRODUCT:               DRAQ5
Application Area:      Confocal Microscopy

After Sales Service:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:      ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Average rating:          5.0

Comments:                Easy to use and highly productive 

Name: Sanaa Bendahmane

• Organisation: Private University of Marrakech

"Works as expected"

PRODUCT:                 DRAQ5

Application Area:        DNA labeling for nano-imaging

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           5.0

Comments: It is easy to use. The photo-stability and brightness are great. The far-red spectrum also provides less potential damages to DNA structures.

Name: Wing Shun Li

Organisation: Applied Physics Program, Northwestern University

"Good"

PRODUCT:                  DRAQ5

Application Area:        Immunofluorescence

Ease of Use:              ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
After Sales Service:    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Value for Money:        ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Average rating:           4.3

Comments: Works as expected

Name: Nahla Ibrahim

Organisation: Medizinischen Universität Wien