Re: staining old tissue

<< Previous Message | Next Message >>
From:"J. A. Kiernan" <jkiernan@julian.uwo.ca> (by way of histonet)
To:histonet@histosearch.com
Reply-To:
Content-Type:text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, R.Wadley wrote:

> One of the great problems with precutting & storing tissue is that you
> expose the tissue to oxidation & reduction reactions with the
> surrounding environment. ...

   Rob: Can you provide references or personal experience to support
   the occurrence of significant atmospheric oxidation affecting
   stored paraffin sections?  With frozen sections you can expect
   changes in the lipids that affect some histochemical tests, but
   which compounds in a paraffin section remain susceptible to
   oxidation by air?  You also mention reduction, but do not say
   what reduces what, or how this might affect the binding of
   dyes or antibodies.

> ...  If you must store unstained slides & must get good results
> from them I can only suggest placing them immediately in a container
> filled with nitrogen gas, temperature of storage - probably cold.

    Have you tried this?  If you have, you should write up (publish)
    your results. I will be happy to give further advice.

                                                          John.
 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1
   Phone: (519) 661-2111
   FAX (Department): (519) 661-3936
   E-mail: kiernan@uwo.ca




<< Previous Message | Next Message >>