i have  been processing mice for a long time and use 10% formalin 4 to 24
hrs.followed by 45 min.70% etoh....45min 80%.....2/ 95% 45min each...2 100%
45in ea.....2 xylene 45min each.....4 paraffins 30..min ea. (embedding
paraffin) finishing with 30 min. (infilterating paraffin)..Have good quality
slides.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	cklein@mail.mdanderson.org [SMTP:cklein@mail.mdanderson.org]
> Sent:	Thursday, March 09, 2000 3:23 PM
> To:	histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
> Subject:	Re: Fixation time for mouse skin
> 
> I am asking this question for a graduate student here in our lab...Some
> mouse
> skin was recently processed and when trying to cut the sections it was
> found
> that the tissue was too brittle.  The skins were fixed in 10% nbf for 16
> hours
> and then dehydrated in a series of ethanol dilutions(70%, 85%, 90% and
> 100%) for
> 20 minutes each.  Skin was then cleared in xylene for 20minutes, dipped in
> parrafin and then embedded.  We think that perhaps the skin was fixed for
> too
> long a period.  Does anyone have any suggestions regading times for the
> fixation, clearing or parrafin infiltraion?
> I realize that this question has probably been asked many times before,
> but I am
> relatively new to the field of histology and am still learning where to
> find
> good accurate information.
> Thanking you in advance,
> I remain sincerely yours,
> Christine Klein
> MD Anderson Cancer Center Houston Texas
> 
>