Ruthenium red

Ruthenium red is a Ruthenium containing red staining dye.

The organic Ruthenium Red is polycationic cell biology reagent that tightly binds to tubulin dimers and Ryanodine receptor. It is a potent inhibitor of intracellular calcium release by Ryanodine receptors at nanomolar concentrations (km ~20 nM).

The inorganic dye ammoniated ruthenium oxychloride used in histology to stain aldehyde fixed mucopolysaccharides, is sometimes also called Ruthenium red, and inhibits calcium transport through membrane channels.