CY3 and CY5

Cy3 and Cy5 fluorescent dyes bind to DNA. They are sensitive to light and should be stored and used in the dark as much as possible. Therefore the labeling steps are performed using dark tubes to prevent signal loss from dye photo-bleaching.

The Cy3 and Cy5 molecules interact with DNA using a universal linkage system (ULS), which uses a special platinum compound. The platinum compound has two free binding sites. The first binding site binds to a marker group, which is the cyanine compound (Cy3 and Cy5) forming a Cy ULS complex. The second binding site links the complex to the purine of a single-stranded, double-stranded, linear or supercoiled DNA or RNA.

The Cy3 and Cy5 molecule interact with DNA using universal linkage system (ULS) which uses a special platinum compound. The platinum compound has two free binding sites. The first binding site binds to a marker group which is the cyanine compound (Cy3 and Cy5) forming a Cy ULS complex. The second binding site link the complex to the purine of single stranded, double stranded, linear or supercoiled DNA, RNA or chromosome.