I always store frozen sections slides at -80C after they are air dryed unfixed
and individually wrapped in foil in a zip lock bag with some dessicant in the
bottom.  Then when I am ready to stain I take a jar of cold acetone to the
freezer site and unwrap each slide individually and put them directly into the
acetone.  If I am going to use all the slides in the zip lock bag, I bring the
entire bag out of the freezer and let it sit at room temp without opening it for
20 min. or so to climitize.  When I open the bag after this the slides are dry
and no longer cold.  I then fix the slides with various fixatives depending on
what I am doing.  I recommend that you send the unfixed slides on dry ice and
let the people you are sending to fix just before they stain.
Patsy

Cynthia Stone wrote:

> I'm testing some different ways to prepare unstainned frozen section slides
> to be sent out.  I've tried putting them in a slide box inside a bitran bag
> and  leaving them in the -80 freezer for a couple of days to pretend they
> were in transit.  Then I removed the slides and  fixed one in acetone and it
> stained fine.  Clear, sharp stain.  One fixed in Rapid Fix didn't stain very
> sharp.  Could it be some moisture on the slide or is it more difficult to
> dissolve the OCT on the slide the longer the slides are stored before
> stainning?  Is any one fixative better to use?  Acetone may be a little more
> forgiving when  it comes to moisture, but what about some type of alcohol?
> How do other send and fix unstainned frozen slides for H&E , immuno's, and
> In Situ ?  Thanks  for any suggestions, Cindy Stone.