we used to do this years ago at UCHSC and we put an old sliding microtome in an
ordinary household chest freezer and used D profile tungsten carbide large
knives, this was before the tape transfer systems, we used to get 20 micron or
so thick sections and put them on glass plates, it worked pretty well.
patsy

Gayle Callis wrote:

> I do not cryosection whole mouse but have learned some options.
>
> Leica 3050 research cryostat or Leica's very large, chest freezer cryostat
> (not sure of the model, but it takes up an enormous amount of floor space
> and costs approximately $190,000 equipped with special knives).  The 3050
> is used with
> d profile tungsten carbide tips mounted in steel backs -  microtome blades.
> DDK sells these, and they are excellent.
>
> I am not sure what thickness, but Robin Taylor indicated 25 um picked up on
> tape.
>
> Instrumedics has a macro Cryojane unit, very pricey, but useful for tape
> transfer with bone or a specimen this large.  I viewed a poster using this
> technology for sectioning whole mouse embedded in paraffin, and know it can
> be used for frozen sections.  I guess in terms of pricey, any larger
> cryostat would also fit this description not to mention tungsten carbide
> knives plus their reconditioning costs, one knife would not be very
> efficient.
>
> As for how to cryosection a whole mouse, I envy the person who successfully
> does this, they must have great patience and skill. We looked whole mouse
> frozen serial sections some time ago.  It was later learned that high
> resolution CCD cameras and specially labelled cells to produce
> bioluminescence was far cheaper to perform T and B cell trafficking in a
> live mouse, with possibility of using the mouse again for further testing.
> Heavy sigh of relief on my part.
>
> Obviously the right tools are very important.
>
>  At 10:20 AM 6/26/02 -0700, you wrote:
> >     Hi Gayle, how do you cryosection (what thickness, what type of
> >...tome?).
> >Thanks in advance,
> >Abizar   > -----Original Message-----
>
> Gayle Callis
> MT,HT,HTL(ASCP)
> Research Histopathology Supervisor
> Veterinary Molecular Biology - Marsh Lab
> Montana State University - Bozeman
> 19th and Lincoln St
> Bozeman MT 59717-3610
>
> 406 994-6367 (voice mail)
> 406 994-4303 (FAX)
>
> email: UVSGC@montana.edu