Pericyte Mapping in Cerebral Slices with the Far-red Fluorophore TO-PRO-3.

This protocol describes a method for high-resolution confocal imaging of pericytes with the far-red fluorophore TO-PRO-3 Iodide 642/661 in cerebral slices of murine. Identification of pericytes with TO-PRO-3 is a short time-consuming, high cost-effective and robust technique to label pericytes with no need for immunostaining or generation of reporter mice. Since the TO-PRO-3 stain resists immunofluorescence, and lacks spectral overlap, the probe is well suited for multiple labelling.