VECTASHIELD® Mounting Medium

VECTASHIELD® Antifade Mounting Medium is a unique, stable formula for preserving fluorescence. This Medium prevents rapid photobleaching of fluorescent proteins and fluorescent dyes. The original Medium does not solidify, but remains a liquid on the slide and can be stored without sealing. If desired, coverslips can be sealed around the perimeter with nail polish or a plastic sealant. Mounted slides should be stored at 4 °C, protected from light. VECTASHIELD® HardSet™ Mounting Medium preserves fluorescence and hardens after coverslipping. After approximately 15 minutes at room temperature, the coverslip will become immobilized, and optimal antifade ability and refractive index will be achieved.  VECTASHIELD® Mounting Media are compatible with a wide array of fluorochromes, enzymatic substrates, and fluorescent proteins. Please consult the compatibility table to determine if VECTASHIELD® will be compatible in your system. R.J. Florijn, et. al. Cytometry, 19 (1995) 177-182. The refractive index for VECTASHIELD® Mounting Medium is 1.45. The optimal medium for super-resolution imaging methods maximizes the lifetime and photo-switching characteristics of fluorophores. VECTASHIELD® Mounting Medium has been shown to be compatible with a number of fluorophores used in super resolution methods including STORM, STED, and 3D-SIMM imaging, such as Cy5 or Alexa fluor 647, resulting in greater convenience and reproducibility of the method. Other manufacturers measure the antifade properties of their mountants using labeled microspheres or arrayed spots. Vector Labs prefers to measure antifade properties of VECTASHIELD® mountants using frozen tissue sections immunohistochemically stained with fluorescently labeled secondary antibodies.  Antifade capability is measured using a 40x objective with real time imaging over 30 seconds of continuous exposure to the excitation illumination. Individual intensity measurements are recorded from 6 separate labeled regions and the average is calculated. The intensity after 30 second exposure is expressed as a percentage of the intensity at zero time.

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