3,6-bis(dimethylamino)acridine hydrochloride; a basic fluorescent dye useful as a metachromatic stain for nucleic acid s; also used in screening cervical smears for abnormal and malignant cells, where unusual amounts of DNA and RNA occur during proliferation and in tumors (DNA fluoresces yellow to green; RNA fluoresces orange to red). SYN: tetramethyl acridine.
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acridine orange n a basic orange dye structurally related to acridine and used esp. to stain nucleic acids
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see under orange.Medical dictionary. 2011.