I'm trying to label and inject a type of immune cells into the mice and assess their co-localization into the tumor. Which dye is the best to label the cells that lasts at least 2 days? for in vivo imaging. what is the protocol to label the cells? thanks in advance!
I always prefere luciferase expressing cells for in vivo imaging. Usually the resolution is better compared to fluorescent dyes and one does not have to deal with background fluorescence, which could be a problem in some setups and organs. Without knowing your specific experimental setup, i would reccomend having a look at this: Article From Seeing to Believing: Labelling Strategies for in vivo C...
There might be more recent articles dealing with the subject. Just do a quick search in PubMed.