Texas Red (and Texas Red-X) Dye

Invitrogen Texas Red dye is a bright red-fluorescent dye with excitation ideally suited to the 561 or 594 nm laser lines. It is commonly conjugated to antibodies and proteins for cellular imaging applications.

Texas Red sulfonyl chloride is susceptible to hydrolysis and its low solubility in water may complicate its conjugation to some biomolecules. To overcome this difficulty, we offer Invitrogen Texas Red-X succinimidyl ester, which contains an additional seven-atom aminohexanoyl spacer ("X") between the fluorophore and its reactive group. Some conjugates are offered in the Texas Red-X formulation.

For brighter conjugates and greater photostability, we offer a Texas Red dye alternative—Invitrogen Alexa Fluor 594—as a reactive dye or conjugated to a variety of antibodies, peptides, proteins, tracers or amplification substrates optimized for cellular labeling and detection.

Initial brightness		Texas Red dye is a traditional red-fluorescent dye that has been used extensively to label protein conjugates such as phalloidins for cytoskeleton counterstaining or antibody conjugates for immunofluorescence.

Photostability in buffer

Photostability in antifade

	561/594	Texas Red	596	615
	Laser line	Common filter set	Excitation max	Emission max

Texas Red (and Texas Red-X) dye products

We offer a broad range of Texas Red and Texas Red-X dye products including secondary antibodies, labeling kits, bioconjugates, and more:

See all Texas Red Secondary Antibodies

UV-irradiated muntjac skin fibroblasts showing mitochondrial damage.

Fixed, permeabilized cells were stained with Invitrogen Texas Red-X phalloidin to visualize F-actin in the cytoskeleton. Endogenous biotin in the mitochondria was detected with Invitrogen Alexa Fluor 488 streptavidin. Nuclei were counterstained with DAPI (Cat. No. D1306, D3571, D21490).

Texas Red reactive dyes

Select dye-labeling chemistries for conjugation with the following reactive groups:

Amine	Thiol	Amine-terminated
NHS ester Sulfonyl chloride	Maleimide	Hydrazine Cadaverine

Texas Red dye protein/antibody labeling kits

Select an optimized labeling kit for your target antibody or protein:

Target protein	Kit	Cat. No.
Conventional antibody/protein labeling
1 mg antibody/protein	Texas Red Antibody/Protein Labeling Kit	T10244

High-performance alternatives to Texas Red dye

Reactive dyes and conjugates

The Alexa Fluor 594 dye—with spectral properties and quantum yield nearly identical to those of Texas Red dye—has excellent solubility and produces brighter, more photostable conjugates. These conjugates are ideal for imaging and other applications requiring increased sensitivity and environmentally insensitive fluorescence detection.

Learn more about Alexa Fluor 594 dye

Phalloidin conjugates

Fluorescent conjugates of phalloidin using the Invitrogen Alexa Fluor dyes are now the preferred F-actin stains for most applications across the full spectral range. The Invitrogen Alexa Fluor phalloidin conjugates provide researchers with fluorescent probes that are designed to be superior in brightness and photostability to all other spectrally similar conjugates tested.

Learn more about Alexa Fluor phalloidin conjugates

Dextran conjugates

Fluorescent conjugates of dextran using the Alexa Fluor dyes are used for direct imaging of cell structures like neuronal projections or cell processes like endocytosis. The Invitrogen Alexa Fluor dextran conjugates provide researchers with fluorescent probes that are designed to be superior in brightness and photostability to all other spectrally similar conjugates tested.

Learn more about Alexa Fluor dextran conjugates