Is there any “auto-fluorescence” associated with the GenePORTER reagents?
Similar to other polyvalent cationic lipids, the GenePORTER and GenePORTER 2 reagents have intrinsic fluorescent characteristics that may be visualized under fluorescent microscopy. However, this auto fluorescence is usually minimal, and typically a camera must be set to a long exposure time (e.g., ΒΌ sec.) to detect it. In contrast, GFP fluorescence is usually bright enough that it is necessary to set a short exposure time (e.g., 1/60 or 1/120 sec.) to avoid overexposure. At such short exposure times, auto fluorescence is usually not visible, so it is not a problem. However, if background fluorescence is visible, it is easily distinguishable from a GFP signal when proper controls for the experiment are done, i.e. mock transfection of cells using just the DNA or just the GenePORTER alone.
