Which components of cell culture media can cause background fluorescence?

There are several, standard components of cell culture media that can interfere with the live imaging of your cells. Phenol red, often found in DMEM, is used to visualize the pH in cell culture dishes. This compound, however, can quench the signal of some visible wavelength fluorescent dyes when used during live cell fluorescent microscopy. Another component of DMEM is riboflavin, which is autofluorescent and can influence the signal-to-noise ratio.

If your dye signal is bright, the background created by phenol red and other compounds should not be a problem. However, if your fluorescent signal is low, we recommend using a phenol red-free medium or a specialized medium developed for live cell imaging.

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