What is spectral cross-talk and how do I avoid it?
Spectral cross-talk (cross-contamination) refers to the presence of fluorescence signal from more than one fluorochrome in a single optical channel. For best quantitative results with multicolor applications, crosstalk should be avoided or eliminated. The use of high-quality narrow band-pass emission filters and careful selection of fluorochromes with sufficient spectral separation can reduce or eliminate the cross-talk. If the cross-talk comes from the simultaneous multi-channel scans, sequential individual-channel scans should be used. In addition, FluorSep utility software (part of ImageQuant Solutions) successfully eliminates cross-talk for most multicolor applications.
