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. 2014 Jan 7;9(3):777–784. doi: 10.1021/cb4007584

Figure 4.

Figure 4

Evans blue colloids do not pass through intact cell membranes but enter cells in monomer form or pass through permeabilized cell membranes as colloids. (A) No fluorescence is detected in live cells exposed to Evans blue colloids. (B) Low fluorescence is detected in live cells exposed to Evans blue monomer, indicating that free, monomeric dye diffused passively into the cell. (C) Intense fluorescence is detected in cells permeabilized with 0.25% Triton X-100 and then treated with Evans blue colloids, after detergent washout, indicating that dye colloids are able to pass through dead cells. (D) Intense fluorescence is detected in cells permeabilized with 0.25% Triton X-100 and treated with Evans blue monomer. (Representative images shown of MDA-MB-231 cells; scale bar = 10 μm.) As we have not corrected for the differential fluorescence of the monomeric and colloidal forms of the dye, these images support only a qualitative analysis of this effect.