CellMask Stain Microscope UK: Compartment Translocation 2026

What microscope do UK labs need to identify cellular compartments and measure translocation with CellMask and organelle dyes?

The question: “I need to know where my protein is inside the cell — membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, organelles — and watch it move. Which dyes and which microscope do I need?”

Compartment identification is the foundation of translocation assays. Whether you are tracking a transcription factor moving into the nucleus, a receptor internalising from the membrane, or a kinase shuttling to the mitochondria, you need reliable compartment references and a microscope that can image them in living cells.

Why Cellular Compartment Identification Matters

  • Translocation assays: Most signalling events are localisation changes, not simple intensity changes.
  • High-content screens: Automated compartment segmentation lets you classify cells as “activated” or “inactive” based on spatial distribution.
  • Colocalisation: Knowing where an organelle is lets you assign puncta or a protein to the correct compartment.
  • Quantification: Intensity ratios (nuclear/cytoplasmic, membrane/cytoplasmic) only make sense if the compartments are accurately segmented.

Reviews on organelle-targeted fluorescent probes and plasma-membrane staining summarise the chemical strategies that make these compartment markers possible.

CellMask and Common Organelle Dyes for Live Imaging

Compartment Role in translocation assays Common dye / marker Compatible channels
Plasma membrane Cell boundary; receptor entry/exit reference CellMask Orange / Deep Red / Green / NIR Orange, far-red, green, near-infrared
Nucleus Nuclear translocation readout; cell counting Hoechst 33342, DRAQ5, NucRed Live 647 UV/blue, far-red, red
Mitochondria Apoptosis, metabolic stress, kinase translocation MitoTracker Green / Red CMXRos / Deep Red Green, red, far-red
Endoplasmic reticulum ER stress, protein folding, Ca2+ release ER-Tracker Green / Red; Sec61β-GFP Green, red, GFP
Lysosomes Receptor degradation, autophagy LysoTracker Green / Red / Deep Red Green, red, far-red
Golgi apparatus Trafficking, secretion pathways BODIPY TR ceramide, fluorescent lectins Red, green
Lipid droplets Metabolic studies, lipophagy BODIPY 493/503, LipidTOX neutral lipid Green, red

What the Microscope Must Deliver

  • Multi-channel fluorescence — at least four channels to separate your protein of interest, CellMask, nucleus and one organelle marker simultaneously.
  • High NA objectives — 20×–40× is typical; 63×/100× oil is useful for resolving organelle substructure.
  • Sensitive camera — many organelle dyes are bright, but your protein reporter may be dim; low noise matters.
  • Stable live-cell environment — for kinetic translocation experiments.
  • Reliable software segmentation — nuclear, membrane and organelle masks to compute translocation ratios.

EVOS M7000: Live Compartment Imaging on Dishes

The EVOS M7000 is a good fit for small-scale compartment and translocation work. It has up to five fluorescence channels, LED excitation with low phototoxicity, and the OSI-2 Onstage Incubator for long-term live-cell experiments.

  • Image CellMask plus GFP-tagged protein plus nuclear dye in one field.
  • Use transmitted light/phase for cell morphology context.
  • Capture Z-stacks to improve organelle localisation in thicker cells.
  • Export to ImageJ/CellProfiler for nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio analysis.
EVOS M7000 Review UK

CellInsight CX5 / CX7: Automated Multiwell Compartment Analysis

For translocation screens that use CellMask and organelle dyes across many conditions, the CellInsight CX5 and CX7 platforms automate acquisition and analysis.

  • Segment nuclei, cytoplasm, membrane rings and punctate organelles per cell.
  • Measure protein-of-interest intensity in each compartment and compute ratios.
  • Run 96- or 384-well compound screens with consistent segmentation rules.
  • With onstage incubator, extend to kinetic translocation assays.
CellInsight CX7 & HCS UK

EVOS M7000 vs CellInsight CX7 for CellMask / Compartment Assays

Use case EVOS M7000 + OSI-2 CellInsight CX5 / CX7
Small-scale live translocation kinetics ✓ Excellent — multi-channel, gentle LED, stable environment ✓ With environmental module
Multiwell translocation screen Manual or low throughput ✓ Purpose-built
Compartment segmentation and ratios ImageJ / CellProfiler / Celleste ✓ HCS Studio built-in
Multi-day live imaging ✓ Stable incubator, low phototoxicity Possible with environmental chamber

Publications and Resources

These references cover plasma-membrane staining chemistry, organelle-targeted probes, quantitative translocation analysis and practical staining protocols.

Thermo Fisher — CellMask Plasma Membrane Stains User Guide

Official user guide covering CellMask Orange, Deep Red, Green and Near-IR plasma membrane stains, storage, protocols and spectral information for live-cell imaging.

View PDF

Yin et al. (2023) — Small-molecule plasma membrane probes

Coordination Chemistry Reviews. Comprehensive review of small-molecule fluorescent probes for plasma membrane staining, covering design, mechanisms and biological applications.

View DOI

Haucke & colleagues (2021) — Organelle membrane nanoscale imaging

Current Opinion in Chemical Biology. Discusses imaging organelle membranes in live cells at the nanoscale with lipid-based fluorescent probes.

View DOI

Lin et al. (2021) — Strategies for organelle-targeted probes

Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry. Reviews strategies for organelle targeting of fluorescent probes, including mitochondria, ER, lysosomes, Golgi and lipid droplets.

View DOI

Jia et al. (2014) — Quantitative translocation tracking in live cells

PLOS ONE. A quantitative method to track protein translocation between intracellular compartments in real time using weighted local variance image analysis.

View DOI

CSH Protocols (2008) — Plasma membrane fluorescent labelling

Cold Spring Harbor Protocols. Protocol for labeling the components of the plasma membrane with fluorescent dyes for imaging.

View DOI

Thermo Fisher — EVOS M7000 / CellInsight CX7 UK

Platform pages for multi-channel live-cell inverted imaging and automated high-content compartment analysis.

EVOS M7000 Review CellInsight CX7 UK

Frequently Asked Questions

What microscope do I need for CellMask and organelle compartment imaging in the UK?

Any inverted fluorescence microscope with sufficient spatial resolution and multi-channel capability will work. For routine compartment segmentation and translocation quantification on a few wells or dishes, the EVOS M7000 with a sensitive camera is practical. For high-throughput multiwell translocation assays, the CellInsight CX5 or CX7 High Content Analysis platform is the better choice.

What does CellMask stain?

CellMask Plasma Membrane Stains label the outer plasma membrane of live cells almost instantly. They are used as a surface reference to define the cell boundary, segment cytoplasm, or measure protein translocation to or from the membrane.

Which organelle dyes are used alongside CellMask in translocation assays?

Common counterstains include Hoechst or DAPI for nuclei, MitoTracker for mitochondria, ER-Tracker for the endoplasmic reticulum, LysoTracker for lysosomes, GolgiTracker or fluorescent lectins for the Golgi, and BODIPY variants for lipid droplets.

How do you measure protein translocation with CellMask?

You image your protein of interest (e.g. GFP-tagged transcription factor or receptor) together with CellMask as a membrane/cytoplasm reference. Image-analysis software then calculates intensity ratios between the membrane, cytoplasm and nucleus over time to quantify translocation.

Can CellInsight CX7 automate compartment-based translocation analysis?

Yes. CellInsight CX7 with HCS Studio can create nuclear, cytoplasmic and membrane segmentation rings, quantify the distribution of one or more fluorescent probes between these compartments, and report population statistics across multiwell plates.

Are CellMask stains toxic for long-term live-cell imaging?

CellMask Plasma Membrane Stains are formulated for short live-cell staining and are generally well tolerated at recommended concentrations for imaging sessions from minutes to a few hours. For multi-day time-lapse, test concentration and photostability; some labs refresh dye or use genetically encoded compartment markers instead.