About CCR5
This gene encodes a member of the beta chemokine receptor family, which is predicted to be a seven transmembrane protein similar to G protein-coupled receptors. This protein is expressed by T cells and macrophages, and is known to be an important co-receptor for macrophage-tropic virus, including HIV, to enter host cells. Defective alleles of this gene have been associated with the HIV infection resistance. The ligands of this receptor include monocyte chemoattractant protein 2 (MCP-2), macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha (MIP-1 alpha), macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta (MIP-1 beta) and regulated on activation normal T expressed and secreted protein (RANTES). Expression of this gene was also detected in a promyeloblastic cell line, suggesting that this protein may play a role in granulocyte lineage proliferation and differentiation. This gene is located at the chemokine receptor gene cluster region. An allelic polymorphism in this gene results in both functional and non-functional alleles; the reference genome represents the functional allele. Two transcript variants encoding the same protein have been found for this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2015]

About Brilliant Violet 650
Brilliant™ Violet 650 (BV650) is a red-emitting tandem fluorophore that can be excited by the 405 nm Violet laser and collected using a 660/20 bandpass filter. BV650 has an excitation peak at 405 nm and an emission peak at 645 nm. Due to its unique Stokes shift, not many dyes have identical excitation and emission spectrums, but the nearest alternatives include SuperBright 645, Qdot® 655 and eFluor™ 650NC (ThermoFisher). BV650 exhibits a medium level of brightness and is most often used in flow cytometry, specifically, it is an alternative to nanocrystals used for intracellular flow. This dye is part of the Brilliant™ Violet dye line of fluorescent polymers. Brilliant™ Violet 421 polymer is employed as the donor molecule in a series of tandem dyes with acceptor molecules emitting at various points across the visible light spectrum. The Brilliant™ Violet dyes are a superior alternative to QDot nanocrystals and similar to SuperNova dye from Beckman Coulter and StarBright dyes from Bio-Rad.