This is intended as a guide only.
Taxol (often referred to as Paclitaxel) is a diterpenoid that binds to tubulin. It promotes and stabilizes tubulin polymerization, which accounts for its anti-mitotic and cytotoxic action. The conjugation of a fluorescent dye to taxol offers a convenient way to image the microtubule cytoskeleton of a cell; well known fluorescent probes based on this principle are Flutax 1 (Cat. No. 2226) and Flutax 2 (Cat. No. 6254).
Taxol Janelia Fluor® 646 is a new tubulin fluorescent probe that incorporates the red fluorogenic dye, Janelia Fluor® 646. The fluorogenicity of the dye renders this probe non-fluorescent until bound to tubulin, enabling no-wash experimental protocols. Guidelines for using this product in a no-wash imaging protocol are provided below.