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Spirochrome

@spirochrome.com
2.3K followers 4.1K following 115 posts

Our main focus is to offer innovative tools for live cell fluorescence imaging to the scientific community. spirochrome.com

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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/06/2026
And it's not all: For an exceptional new product, an exceptional new casing! We designed new boxes that we will gradually deploy to replace our old metal boxes. 4 designs will be randomly used for each product!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/06/2026
Today is the Day, CenSpark650 is available! Time to get those centrioles and cilia shining under the 🔬objective! spirochrome.com/product/cens... video: 20h imaging of primary cilium formation in a single RPE-1 cell stained with CenSpark650. movie credits: @cepourroy.bsky.social
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 27/05/2026
📢On June 1st, we will be launching CenSpark650, the very first selective fluorescent probe for imaging centrioles and cilia in live cells.🔬 No transfection, zero genetic manipulation. Just Add & Image 1 hour later. Learn more: spirochrome.com/12-may-2026/ #Bioimaging
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 04/05/2026
Casually posting this one for no particular reason! #MayTheFourth
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/05/2026
Overly proud that Katie Holden's image won Evident Microscopy's 6th Annual Image of the Year "Global Winner" award🏆 The image shows Live iPSC-derived neurospheres. DNA (magenta) & MT (blue) were stained with our probes SiR-tubulin & SPY555-DNA probes. evidentscientific.com/en/landing/i...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 21/04/2026
Mesmerizing light sheet imaging of neutrophils swarming at a yeast target! The neutrophils were labeled with SPY650-DNA (yellow) and a calcium dye (blue). This movie is part of the recent manuscript by @strickland-evelyn.bsky.social that we highly recommend reading! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/04/2026
Beware the SPY488-FastAct rollercoaster! We teamed up with CSR Biotech and their incredible MI-SIM microscope to drive you through the intricate actin network of live COS7 cells stained with SPY488-FastAct. Find out more about SPY488-FastAct: spirochrome.com/product/spy4...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 23/03/2026
📢 Staining #Peroxisomes in live & fixed cells with Peroxi_SPY probes has never been so easy! There is now a very detailed #JOVE video that explains it all step by step. Video link: dx.doi.org/10.3791/6940... Peroxi_SPY link: spirochrome.com/products/?_c... 🧪
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 16/03/2026
An amazing example of actin imaging with our expansion microscopy probe for actin HAK-actin™. These are U-ExM expanded platelets stained with HAK-Actin (magenta bottom), (anti-integrin αIIb magenta top), and fibrin (fibrinogen-A488, green). Movie from preprint www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... 🧪
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/03/2026
4/5 The "Stuck" State: Flipper-TR also exposed a fibrosis mechanism. In healthy lungs, tension drops to allow repair. But in fibrotic lungs (IPF), Flipper-TR showed tension stays high. This high tension state traps cells in a dysfunctional "transitional state," preventing healing.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/03/2026
3/5 Mapping the Invisible: Using Flipper-TR + FLIM imaging, researchers visualized tension in live lung tissue. They discovered a drop in membrane tension before cells differentiate into AT1 or AT2 alveolar cells. Even cooler? It mapped "emergent zones" of low tension where differentiation starts!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/03/2026
2/5 The Challenge: Scientists knew various signals guided lung differentiation, but how do cells "know" when to specialize? Here comes Flipper-TR: A mechanosensitive dye that changes its fluorescence lifetime based on CMT. High tension = Long lifetime; Low tension = Short lifetime
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/03/2026
🧵 1/5 A new BioRxiv preprint reveals that membrane tension acts as a mechanical gate for lung cell fate during development! 🫁 Our Flipper-TR probe was key to assess live Cell Membrane Tension (CMT) Here’s how Flipper-TR unlocked a hidden layer of lung development & fibrosis. 👇 #Mechanobiology
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 03/03/2026
🟢FastAct™ goes green! 🟢🔬 We launch SPY488-FastAct™ a green channel live cell actin probe SPY488-FastAct allows imaging F-actin in live and fixed cells Compatible with SPY555 and SPY650 for easy 3 color imaging. spirochrome.com/product/spy4... available at our distributors in a couple of days. 🧪
Widefield microscope image of HeLa cells stained with SPY488-FastActWidefield microscope image of U2OS cells stained with SPY488-FastAct (green), PKmito Orange (white), SPY650-DNA (cyan)Widefield microscope image of U2OS cells stained with SPY488-Fastact (green) and SPY650-DNA (red)
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 27/02/2026
Mesmerizing actin fireworks 💥 with our actin probe SPY650-FastAct_X for #FluorescenceFriday Easy to use: just dilute the probe in cell culture medium and image 30 min later! 🔗 spirochrome.com/product/spy6... 🙏 Big thanks to @lazaresaladin.bsky.social for the images. 🧪
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 08/01/2026
Are you staining DNA in your ExM samples? We have awesome news for you! All our 6 SPY-DNA probes work beautifully well with the U-ExM protocol. You can now tune the color of the DNA channel to your needs, according to the fluorophores on your preferred antibodies. spirochrome.com/products/?_c...
The images shows an array of 6 Expansion microscopy images of cell nuclei (three columns and 2 rows). each image was taken with a different SPY-DNA probe to stain the nuclear DNA and is pseudocolored to the  fluorescence wavelength of the SPY-DNA probe. Trom top left to bottom right: SPY505-DNA (green); SPY555-DNA (magenta); SPY595-DNA (yellow); SPY620-DNA (orange); SPY650-DNA (red); SPY700-DNA (darker red). a white scale bar of 50 micrometers is given for each image to get an impression of the scale of each nuclei.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 05/01/2026
Peroxi_SPY probes were designed for peroxisome live cell imaging. Turns out they work with fixed cells as well! Peroxi_SPY can thus be combined with immunofluorescence labeling. A new article provides a detailed protocol: app.jove.com/t/69405/pero... Products link: spirochrome.com/products/?_c...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 16/12/2025
A new article by @zhixingchen2.bsky.social shows that the far red mitochondrial probe PKmito Deep Red is a robust mitochondrial membrane potential probe when imaged by FLIM. www.nature.com/articles/s41... PKmito Deep Red is exclusively available at Spirochrome: spirochrome.com/product/pkmi...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 24/11/2025
The images in the main text are also definitely worth a look!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 24/11/2025
A new article from Nicolas Plachta's lab with incredible imaging of live human embryos using our probes SPY555-DNA and SPY650-FastAct www.science.org/doi/full/10.... The study shows that frequent errors during cell division directly cause many early developmental failures and morphological defects
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 29/10/2025
Find out how SPY650-FastAct_X can help your research here: spirochrome.com/product/spy6...
A group of live HeLa cells stained with SPY650-FastAct_X and imaged by STED microscopy. The image was kindly provided by Prof. Till Stephan.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 29/10/2025
Live cell ACTIN imaging has never been easier with SPY650-FastAct_X! 1. Add the probe to the cells 2. Image 1h later SPY650 is highly suited for STED imaging. The image shows a confocal/STED comparison of the fine actin mesh in a live HeLa cell. image credits: @stephanlab.bsky.social
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 02/10/2025
📢📄 A new preprint by @katecavanaugh.bsky.social links reduced fertility stemming from impaired implantation from older mothers to embryo hypercontractility SPY650-FastAct was the key probe to track actin dynamics in live embryos implantation movies over 24 h long 🤯 doi.org/10.1101/2025... #imaging
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 19/09/2025
HAK-actin™: a new probe to label #actin in your expansion microscopy samples with a robust yet simple protocol. Find out how HAK-actin™ can help you achieve a bright actin staining in your ExM workflow: spirochrome.com/product/hak-... Image credits: Olivier Mercey, UNIGE
U-ExM expanded HeLa cell stained with HAK-actin (orange) and DNA (blue).
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/09/2025
HAK-actin™ was developed in the labs of @centriolelab.bsky.social and @dudinlab.bsky.social. Find out more about HAK-actin™ in the BioRxiv manuscript: doi.org/10.1101/2025... We are grateful to @dudinlab.bsky.social for providing the creolimax frangantissima data used in the movie
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 10/09/2025
Discover HAK-actin™: A New Tool To Visualize The Actin Cytoskeleton by Expansion Microscopy • Stronger signal via post-expansion labeling • Broad cell lines & species compatibility • Endogenous actin labeling • Can be multiplexed with other targets spirochrome.com/product/hak-...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 05/08/2025
The video was adapted from movie 3 in the accepted manuscript "Piezo1 balances membrane and cortex tension to stabilize intercellular junctions and maintain epithelial barrier " by @sarawickstrom.bsky.social doi.org/10.1242/jcs.... The article also features our membrane tension probe Flipper-TR!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 05/08/2025
Our Live cell actin probe SPY650-FastAct efficiently labels primary keratinocytes isolated from mice.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 16/07/2025
🌑Goodbye bleaching, hello brightness! ☀️ We're thrilled to introduce two new Halotag ligands featuring @zhixingchen2.bsky.social fantastic photoresistant BD-dyes! ✅ Highly photoresistant, no photoblueing ✅ Outstanding brightness ✅ Cell permeable ✅ Outperform best in class fluorophores
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 15/07/2025
The first UK Peroxisome Network Meeting in Exeter was a great success! We're grateful to the organizers for giving us the opportunity to support this great event. Triana Amen presented her amazing work on the development of Peroxi_SPY probes for peroxisome imaging. Rendez-vous at the next edition!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/07/2025
Our mechanosensitive Flipper-TR™ probes at work in a stunning article by Z. Chen Et al. from the University of western Australia. The study unveils a PM-ER mechanotransduction mechanism in response to external strain that dose-dependently regulates cellular metabolism. doi.org/10.1126/scia...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 27/06/2025
Dear Yeast friends: Did you know PKmito ORANGE labels nicely yeast cells mitochondria! The image is from in a recent article by @fmcbenning.bsky.social : doi.org/10.1002/pro.... PKmito ORANGE is a gentle probe for mitochondria imaging with reduced phototoxicity spirochrome.com/product/pkmi...
Maximum intensity projections of mitochondrial morphology
in indicated S. cerevisiae strains labeled with PKmito Orange
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 23/06/2025
If you are interested in the context of this movie you can read the Science article by @loxstoplox.bsky.social about the role of actin in early embryo spindle formation and look at the other 😍 microscopy images and movies. doi.org/10.1126/scie...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 23/06/2025
Let's start the week with this movie kindly shared by @loxstoplox.bsky.social The movie shows a mouse embryo labeled with Formin-2-GFP and SPY650-DNA during nuclear envelope breakdown. Note the nuclear dilution of Formin-2-GFP immediately before the SPY650-DNA labeled chromosomes start compaction.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 17/06/2025
New preprint by @kjohnsson.bsky.social lab! A new split Halotag system with higher affinity of the complements + lower background. The system works with our SiR-CA & CPY-CA halotag ligands and enables STED imaging or FLIM multiplexing. The short 14 aa tag Hpep enables easy cloning free CRISPR-KI.
schematic illustration of protein labeling using the spontaneous self-complementing peptide protein split-HaloTag system. POI: protein of interest Pairwise combination of Hpep11 (TOM20-tagged) with the other three Hpep variants 8, 9 and 10 (H2B-tagged) for FLIM multiplexing. The total fluorescence intensity composite, the two separated species and their corresponding wavelet-filtered phasor plot used for species separation are presented.
Live-cell confocal imaging of histone H2B type-2E-Hpep11 CRISPR KI cell lines after 2-hours labeling with the specified CA- ligand [100 nM]. Images were taken with optimal image acquisition parameter for each dye. Scale bar: 50 μm. (a) Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and STED images of mitochondria in U2OS cells coexpressing cpHaloΔ3 and TOM20-Hpep, either overexpressed or endogenously tagged. Scale bar: 1 μm. Pixel intensities scaled according to reference bar. (b) Representative CLSM, STED images of the CRISPR/Cas9 KI cells expressing TOM20 tagged with intact HaloTag (upper) or Hpep11 (bottom). (c) Intensity profiles along mitochondrial tubules (red and blue lines in b). Scale bar: 2 μm. (d) Representative CLSM and STED images of endogenous Hpep11-tagged clathrin with cpHaloΔ3 coexpression. Scale bar: 10 μm (overview) and 2 μm (magnification). (e) Representative CLSM, STED
images of endogenously tagged tubulin beta 4B with Hpep11. Scale bar: 10 μm (overview) and 2 μm (magnification). (f) Intensity profiles along tubulin filaments (red and blue lines in e) Means ± s.d. of the filament diameters were calculated as full width at half maximum (FWHM) from n=20 microtubule filaments, ≥ 2 images. A slight increase in cytosolic signal was noted in cells tagged with split-HaloTagat TUBB4B, compared to cells tagged with the full-length HaloTag, which may result from the presence of unbound but labeled cpHaloΔ3. All images were acquired after labeling with CA-SiR [100 nM] for one hour.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 13/03/2025
FastAct_X: the 3rd actin probes generation from Spirochrome ✅ Improved actin ligand, captures very fast actin dynamics ✅ No undesired F-actin stabilization ✅ Just add & image protocol ✅ High brightness ✅ STED compatible ✅ Available in two colors SPY555 & SPY650 spirochrome.com/products/?_r...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 04/03/2025
📢New product launch: SPY555-FastAct_X: ✅ Improved actin ligand captures very fast actin dynamics ✅ No toxicity ✅ High brightness ✅ Low phototoxicity ✅ High photoblueing & bleaching resistance spirochrome.com/product/spy5... Image: @lindawedemann.bsky.social from @mschuhmacher.bsky.social lab
HeLa cells labeled with SPY555-FastAct_X.  The picture is fluorescence micrograph showing the actin cytoskeleton as straight stress Fibers as well as some fainter mesh-like actin fibers. Image kindly provided by Linda Wedemann from the Schumacher group at EPFL, Switzerland.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 28/02/2025
Highly impressive LLSM imaging of PKmito Orange stained cells using DeepCristae, a newly published mitochondrial cristae restoration convolutional neural network. PKMito Orange: spirochrome.com/product/pkmi... Source Article: doi.org/10.1038/s420... Happy #FluorescenceFriday
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 06/02/2025
Which actin probe is best for your experiment? Our new Actin_TestKit combines our 3 far red actin probes SiR-actin; SPY650-FastAct & SPY650-FastAct_X! You can now screen for the best actin probe at a fraction of the cost of a single tube! spirochrome.com/product/acti...
The picture shows the product box for the Spiorchorme product Actin TestKit. The box features an image of actin in neuroal growth cones and the product name & contents.The picture shows the inside of the product box for the Spiorchorme product Actin TestKit. The box presents 3 tubes containing 3 different actin probes. The box lid contains instructions for use and storage of the product.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 06/02/2025
📢New Actin Probe available at Spirochrome! Introducing SPY650-FastAct_X our latest actin probe with highly improved kinetics and no toxicity! spirochrome.com/product/spy6... The product is now available from our distributors Preprint from the @kjohnsson.bsky.social lab: doi.org/10.1101/2025...
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 24/01/2025
A recent manuscript by @sulianamanley.bsky.social's lab led by @jclandoni.bsky.social describes reversible mitochondrial pearling as a driving force for mtDNA regular distribution within mitochondria. PKmito ORANGE was used in to image mitochondrial pearling by STED microscopy in live cells.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 22/11/2024
Celebrating #FluorescenceFriday and hopefully brightening your timeline with these live intestinal #organoids stained with our actin probe SPY555-FastAct.
SPY555-FastAct stained intestinal organoids growing in in microwells. the image is a composite of a brightfield image (grey) and SPY555-FastAct (cyan).
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 18/11/2024
Happy #MicroscopyMonday! We have here a mouse embryo stained with PKmito Deep Red. It is happily undergoing two synchronized cell divisions rounds. PKmito low phototoxicity is key for long term imaging of fragile embryos.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 15/11/2024
A warm welcome to all the new Bluesky members that recently joined! Let's celebrate #FluorescenceFriday with @axonsalex.bsky.social's axonal growth sparks & fireworks! More information in the movie alt-text
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 12/11/2024
Our friends from Fluosphera, a Swiss high-throughput in-vitro drug discovery startup, uses spheroids encapsulated in alginate for multiplexing cell lines in a single well. Our nuclear SPY-DNA probes work like a charm with their technology!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 03/10/2024
🗓️Mark your calendars! 📢 Next week, on October 7th we launch a large set of new products. 🚀 That includes a brand new kit in a cool new box!
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 13/09/2024
🎉🍾10 YEARS - NEW WEBSITE! 🎂 Join us in celebrating Spirochrome's 10th anniversary and visit our new website! spirochrome.com Oh, and the party's not over yet, we have lots of surprises (= fantastic new live-cell imaging probes) to be revealed soon 😉! Your Spiro Team
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 31/05/2024
📢 The new gentle plasma membrane probes PKmem™ are available! Order now and get a 30% introductory discount. PKmem probes advantages: ✅ Fast staining ✅ Reduced phototoxicity ✅ Superresolution microscopy compatible ✅ Allow extended long term live cell imaging ✅ 3 colors/channels available
A migrating L929 cell stained with PKmem 555 and PK mito Deep Red. During its progression, the cell leaves a track of membrane tubules and vesicles on the slide called "migrasome" which is clearly visible.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 08/05/2024
🚨MORE NEW PRODUCTS🚨 1/3 The new and amazing "Gentle" Plasma Membrane (PM) PKmem™ probes from Zhixing Chen's lab will be available at Spirochrome by the end of May.
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Spirochrome @spirochrome.com · 01/05/2024
📢NEW PRODUCT 📢 We are thrilled to announce that a new product PKmito ORANGE FX will soon be available at Spirochrome! PKmito ORANGE FX is tailored for fixed cells and tissues. It is bright and highly retained after fixation allowing to image mitochondria by STED nanoscopy with an amazing resolution.
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