On Wed, 17 Jan 2001 dgaupp@tulane.edu wrote:

> I have a question.  What procedure stains nuclear lighter than the cytoplasm or 
> what stain will stain the cytoplasm only????????

If the cytoplasm contains a lot of RNA (neurons, plasma cells,
secretory cells etc) you can stain it selectively by the
cuprolinic blue-magnesium chloride method. This works better
after Carnoy fixation than after formaldehyde. Unfortunately
the dye is very expensive, but you don't need much, and the
solution is stable for years in the fridge. (Nucleoli are also
stained, but not the bulk of the nucleus.)

 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