Q: Are your Alkaline Phosphatase Kits dependent on species or cell type?
A: All of our Alkaline Phosphatase kits may be used for any cell type that expresses alkaline phosphatase such as osteoblast cells. The kits are not dependent on either cell type or species.
Q: I used your StemTAG™ Alkaline Phosphatase Kit to characterize my differentiated vs. undifferentiated cells. I was surprised to find that my differentiated cells actually showed a higher level of alkaline phosphatase compared to the undifferentiated cells. Why did this happen?
A: The vast majority of adult cells will exhibit far less alkaline phosphatase activity compared to stem cells. However, there are a few cells such as osteoblasts that actually express higher levels of alkaline phosphatase after differentiation.
Q: What is the difference between the two Alkaline Phosphatase Staining Kits?
A: Both of our Alkaline Phosphatase Staining kits detect undifferentiated cells through AP activity by immunocytochemistry staining, using either a red (#CBA-300) or purple (#CBA-306) dye. The red dye typically gives clearer results than the purple dye.
Q: Can the Alkaline Phosphatase Staining Kits be used to stain tissue slices?
A: Yes, our Staining Kits will work on any tissue or cell type that has AP activity and are compatible with tissue slices as long as they are not paraffin embedded, which will kill the activity.