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I understand that the blue spectrum is emitted when Hoechst 33342 binds to nuclear DNA. But what exactly is the red spectrum telling us?

I read that the red spectrum can be indicative of apoptosis, cellular complexity, or a proxy for cytoplasmic content.

What exactly is the red spectrum indicative of in terms of the cellular context?

edit**

Sorry for not getting back to this question sooner. I found the answer in this paper: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022175995002146#

Apparently condensed chromatin during apoptosis causes hoechst to shift to a red spectrum.

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  • $\begingroup$ There are several Höchst dyes, you might want to clarify which you are talking about. $\endgroup$
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 17:06
  • $\begingroup$ I am talking about Hoechst 33342 specifically. $\endgroup$
    – Damian Kao
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 19:52
  • $\begingroup$ could you provide a link or reference about the function of the dye as "indicative of apoptosis, cellular complexity, or a proxy for cytoplasmic content". I'm quite interested! I know that some dyes such as CyTRAK orange that stains both nucleus and cytoplasm with cytoplasm being a lighter orange colour than the nucleus but the described hoechst 33342 property is new to me, so I would be interested in any links/references you could provide supporting your question! $\endgroup$
    – Behzad Rowshanravan
    Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 21:30
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    $\begingroup$ This question lacks evidence for the main claim made! $\endgroup$
    – Behzad Rowshanravan
    Commented Aug 19, 2014 at 17:32
  • $\begingroup$ That's a problem but it doesn't warrant sniping the question down immediately like this. Give the asker some time to edit the question and explain where he made such a claim before putting him through a tedious reopen procedure. If he doesn't respond within the next days, close it down. $\endgroup$
    – Armatus
    Commented Aug 20, 2014 at 11:44

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