Bodipy-493/503 versus Oil Red O.

Consecutive cryosections from human VL muscle were stained with ORO or Bodipy-493/503. Lambda stacks of the fluorescence emitted by Bodipy and ORO stained muscle sections were acquired with a LSM780, with a resolution of 9 nm (A). Emission spectra were graphed from the lambda stack and show that Bodipy’s emission spectra (B) is narrower than ORO’s (C). Furthermore, for both lipophilic dyes, the results show that lower emitted wave lengths seem to originate from stained intracellular membranes, while the higher wave lengths originate from the lipid droplets. (D) The detection of the emitted fluorescence from the Bodipy or ORO stained muscle cross-sections were combined with imaging of transmitted light through the cryosections, showing that transmission of light through the stained section is clearly blocked by the ORO stained lipid droplets, but unaltered by Bodipy stained lipid droplets (arrows).Bars; 5 µm.