Label IT® Labeling Technology: The Superior Choice
Understanding the
Label IT® and Kreatech ULS™ Labeling Technologies
Both the Label IT and ULS Technologies chemically attach labels to nucleic acids
Why Choose the Label IT Technology?
Ease of Use
- The Label IT chemistry is compatible with common buffers and salts simplifying sample preparation.
- Labeling reactions can be scaled by volume or nucleic acid mass making the Label IT chemistry extremely flexible and adaptable.
Versatility
- Label IT reactions can be performed on any size, single- or double-stranded nucleic acid substrate without denaturation making it compatible with a wide array of applications including intracellular tracking, ISH, FISH, blotting, microarrays, and subtractive hybridization for library construction.
- Sequence Independent Labeling – The Label IT labeling reagent comprises a reactive alkylating agent with strong nucleic acid binding capability facilitated via electrostatic interactions. Labeling via covalent modification (alkyation) of RNA (including miRNA) or DNA can take place on reactive heteroatoms on any nucleotide of the nucleic acid polymer. The label does not impact hybridization performance in subsequent applications.
The Different Labeling Chemistries
Detailed Reasons to Choose the Label IT Technology
Printable PDF
Label IT® Reagents use alkylation chemistry to attach labels to nucleic acids through a covalent bond while ULS Technology uses platinum co-ordination chemistry.
| Label IT® Chemistry |
ULS Chemistry |
| |
|
Back to Top |
Printable PDF
| General Label IT® Protocol |
General ULS™ Protocol |
| |
 |
 |
| Label IT Technology |
ULS Technology |
| 1 – Buffer Compatibility |
| Compatible with common buffers and <=50 mM NaCl - samples prepared using standard purification methods and kits are ready for labeling using the Label IT Kits. |
ULS labeling requires highly pure starting materials free of trace amounts of divalent cations, salts, buffers, and EDTA making it more difficult to prepare the samples. |
| 2 – Size Limitations |
| No nucleic acid template size limitations - any length of nucleic acid from siRNAs to cosmids and BACs can be labeled using Label IT Reagents making it versatile and useful for a variety of applications. |
ULS labeling of DNA molecules >1000 bp may cause aggregation limiting the utility of this labeling system to small molecules or fragments. |
| 3 – Denaturation Step |
| Highly efficient labeling of native double- or single-stranded nucleic acids with no heat denaturation of dsDNA required – any type of nucleic acid can be labeled in its native form including dsDNA, ssDNA, dsRNA, ssRNA, and DNA and RNA oligonucleotides. |
For efficient labeling of dsDNA with ULS chemistry, the DNA must be heat denatured before labeling thus adding another step to the ULS labeling protocol and disrupting the native conformation of dsDNA. |
| 4 – Nucleic Acid Concentration |
| No restrictions on the nucleic acid concentration during labeling - the labeling reactions can be scaled by volume or total nucleic acid mass enabling simple, flexible labeling. |
The concentration of nucleic acid in a ULS labeling reaction must be kept at 50 ng/µl and 20 µl total volume, which will likely dictate that the sample be diluted or concentrated before labeling and thus adding a step before beginning the labeling reaction. |
| 5 – Reaction Conditions |
| Flexible labeling incubation times - the Label IT labeling reaction incubation time of 1 hour can be increased or decreased to simply and reproducibly control labeling density. |
ULS labeling reactions require very specific labeling conditions (incubation times and temperatures) thus limiting the flexibility and adaptability of the labeling system. |
Return to Top |
Printable PDF