Yep, we use it for processing islet cells that have been spun down in a
collagen gel. We get a little pellet that is mostly water and turns into
*nothing* when processed. But, the investigator wants to see an H&E of
the pellet.
	So, we put a vial of Histogel in a beaker of water and heat it up to
about 60C until it melts. Then we put a little puddle (about the size of
a nickel)  of Histogel on a plastic dish, and orient the pellet in the
puddle. If it sticks up above the top of the puddle we wait until the gel
thickens and then add more Histogel on top. Then we put the plastic dish
on an ice tray until the gel hardens. When it's hard we take a razor
blade and cut out a strip containing the sample, then process that in a
cassette between two biopsy pads. (It's easiest to pick up the strip on
the side of the blade.) 
	The histogel shrinks dramatically when dehydrated and becomes a little
flat membrane. We just embed the whole thing. It doesn't really stain
with H&E; there's just a little ghost of the Histogel surrounding the
sample on the slide.
	I would guess that since you have samples of more substance, you may
need to adjust your processing schedule a bit. I hope this works for you;
with a little thought you should be able to work out your orientation so
that you see what you want after processing. Perhaps if you worked fast
you could do your orientation under a dissecting scope before the gel
hardens.
	I think that Richard Allen is selling Histogel now, unless it's changed
hands again. We could use something else, by the way; we could make up
agar or gelatin, but these days we don't have the time to make up
anything that we could buy instead.

Jeffrey Crews, HTL (ASCP)
Organogenesis, Inc.


On Wed, 09 Feb 2000 14:59:39 -0600 "Molinari, Betsy"
<BMolinari@heart.thi.tmc.edu> writes:
>Hi Histonetters,
> Has anyone had any experience using Histogel? I have some very small
>mouse vessels That are very difficult to orientate after processing 
>and
>I thought Histogel may be something to try.
>Thanks
>Betsy Molinari
>Texas Heart Institute
>713-794-6524
>

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