*2.2. Materials*

Nile Red (9-diethylamino-5H-benzo[alpha]phenoxazine-5-one (C20H18N2O2), Merck, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and/or its affiliates), bovine serum albumin (BSA) (Sigma-Aldrich Chemie Gmbh, Munich, Germany), Stains-All (Acros Organics, Fair Lawn, NJ, USA). Unless otherwise stated, all commercial reagents and solvents were used without additional purification. All chemicals used in this work were molecular biology grade or higher. Water was 18 MΩ grade (purified by a Simplicity 185 water system (Millipore, Burlington, MA, USA).
