Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
Fiber Type and Subcellular-Specific Analysis of Lipid Droplet Content in Skeletal Muscle
Published on: June 8, 2022
Use of BODIPY (493/503) to visualize intramuscular lipid droplets in skeletal muscle
Espen E Spangenburg1, Stephen J P Pratt, Lindsay M Wohlers
1Department of Kinesiology, University of Maryland, School of Public Health, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Abstract:
Triglyceride storage is altered across various chronic health conditions necessitating various techniques to visualize and quantify lipid droplets (LDs). Here, we describe the utilization of the BODIPY (493/503) dye in skeletal muscle as a means to analyze LDs. We found that the dye was a convenient and simple approach to visualize LDs in both sectioned skeletal muscle and cultured adult single fibers. Furthermore, the dye was effective in both fixed and nonfixed cells, and the staining seemed unaffected by permeabilization. We believe that the use of the BODIPY (493/503) dye is an acceptable alternative and, under certain conditions, a simpler method for visualizing LDs stored within skeletal muscle.
