List of common vital stains

• Eosin
  Eosin
  Eosin is a fluorescent red dye resulting from the action of bromine on fluorescein. It can be used to stain cytoplasm, collagen and muscle fibers for examination under the microscope. Structures that stain readily with eosin are termed eosinophilic....
  
   dye exclusion
• Propidium iodide
  Propidium iodide
  Propidium iodide is an intercalating agent and a fluorescent molecule with a molecular mass of 668.4 Da that can be used to stain cells. When excited with 488 nm wavelength light, it fluoresces red...
  
  , DNA stain that can differentiate necrotic
  Necrosis
  Necrosis is the premature death of cells in living tissue. Necrosis is caused by factors external to the cell or tissue, such as infection, toxins, or trauma. This is in contrast to apoptosis, which is a naturally occurring cause of cellular death...
  
  , apoptotic
  Apoptosis
  Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death that may occur in multicellular organisms. Biochemical events lead to characteristic cell changes and death. These changes include blebbing, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation...
  
   and normal cells
  Cell (biology)
  The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all known living organisms. It is the smallest unit of life that is classified as a living thing, and is often called the building block of life. The Alberts text discusses how the "cellular building blocks" move to shape developing embryos....
  
  .
• Trypan Blue
  Trypan blue
  Trypan blue is a vital stain used to selectively colour dead tissues or cells blue. It is a diazo dye.Live cells or tissues with intact cell membranes are not coloured. Since cells are very selective in the compounds that pass through the membrane, in a viable cell trypan blue is not absorbed;...
  
  , a living-cell exclusion dye
• Erythrosine
  Erythrosine
  Erythrosine, also known as Red No. 3, is an organoiodine compound, specifically a derivative of fluorone. It is cherry-pink synthetic, primarily used for food coloring. It is the disodium salt of 2,4,5,7-tetraiodofluorescein...
  
  , which is Red No. 3 in food coloring, can be used as an exclusion dye