7-Aminoactinomycin D

7-Aminoactinomycin D (7-AAD) is a fluorescent DNA dye that is commonly used for the detection or exclusion of non-viable cells in flow cytometric analysis, as it is generally excluded by live cells.{21244,16311} It displays excitation spectra of 488, 546, and 578 nm and an emission spectrum of 650 nm.{41095} As 7-AAD is detected in the far red range of the spectrum, it exhibits minimal spectral overlap with commonly used probes, therefore it can be used in conjunction with probes such as FITC.{21244,41095} 7-AAD has been used to evaluate apoptosis and cell-mediated cytotoxicity and to stain DNA in cells that have been fixed and permeabilized by a variety of methods.{21244,16311,21243}