A fluorescence method to visualize the nuclear boundary by the lipophilic dye DiI

Here, we describe a procedure to fluorescently contrast the nuclear boundary using the lipophilic carbocyanine dye DiI in cultured human cells. Our procedure is simple and is applicable to detect nuclear boundary defects, which may be relevant to studies on nuclear envelope dynamics, micronuclei formation and cancer biology.

DiI: 1,1′-dioctadecyl-3,3,3′,3′-tetramethylindocarbocyanine perchlorate; DiO: 3,3ʹ-dioctadecyloxacarbocyanine perchlorate; NE: nuclear envelope; RanBP2: Ran-binding protein 2/Nucleoporin 358