Tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester perchlorate

Tetramethylrhodamine methyl ester perchlorate (TMRM) is a cell-permeant, cationic fluorescent dye widely used to assess mitochondrial membrane potential and for labeling mitochondria in live-cell imaging and flow cytometry. By selectively accumulating in active mitochondria according to their membrane potential, TMRM enables real-time monitoring of mitochondrial function, bioenergetics, and apoptosis-related depolarization events. Due to the polarization of the mitochondrial membrane, TMRM is taken up into healthy mitochondria, but when the membrane is depolarized, as in apoptosis, it is released from the mitochondria. Thus, the strength of the fluorescence signal in mitochondria is used to assess cell viability. TMRM is commonly applied in studies of neurobiology, cardiology, toxicology, and metabolic research to investigate mitochondrial dynamics, oxidative stress, and cellular responses to pharmacological agents. TMRM is slightly less hydrophobic than TMRE. Spectral Data: λEx=555 nm; λEx=574 nm (red-orange).