Cloudiness (Reply to a a subjectless question)

From:"J. A. Kiernan"

First, an admonition and a request to all.
PLEASE DON'T ask questions with nothing in the
Subject line of the email. End of growl. Now
for the question and an answer.

NIDAL E MUVARAK wrote:
> 
> Hi. After my immunostaining procedure that ends with three changes in xylene, I coverslip (using Cytoseal, Richard Allen Scientific). When I look at the slides under the microscope I notice some "cloudiness." I'm wondering if that is due to the xylene drying off the tissue or due to the xylene still being on the tissue.

REPLY:

A resinous mounting medium must be applied to a slide that is wet
with xylene or some similar hydrophobic solvent. If a slide dries
by evaporation air will get trapped in
the desiccated section and the mountant won't displace it.
Cloudiness is the least
malignant of drying-out artifacts. I've seen much worse, mostly
from wannabee PhDs with supervisors who are clueless about what
mixes with what. 

Both the Cytoseal media have worked well in my hands, even though
bubbles
regularly form at the edges of the coverslips. 

-- 
-------------------------
John A. Kiernan
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
The University of Western Ontario
London,   Canada   N6A 5C1
   kiernan@uwo.ca
   http://publish.uwo.ca/~jkiernan/



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