Dear Carl, Your quite long message is appended at the end of
this quite long one: JK's reply to your "Re: JK's reply on
section 
adhesives" email to Histonet. 

Sorry, but I don't know what type of adhesive Merck/VWR use on
the
Superfrost plus slides. Possibly they would tell you if you ask.
All that follows is speculation, and some references to
peer-reviewed
publications.

From what you write about the slides holding sections down in the
face of hot pH 10 buffers, they behave more like subbed
(chrome-gelatin)
slides than positively charged (silanized) slides. 
It's theoretically possible to make slides that are positivelly
charged
even in strong alkali, by treating the glass with an alkylsilane
that
carries a quaternary ammonium rather than an amino group. I've
not
seen a publication on this but suitable reagents, comparable to
APES,
are in the appropriate chemical catalogues. They may have been
used
industrially to make better positively charged slides, with the
makers
keeping quiet about exactly what they're selling, for obvious
reasons.

There are various quite different approaches to section adhesion,
and 
the Merck product might use one of them. In the decade before the
journal 
changed its name (to Biotech. Histochem.) some significant papers
on 
this subject appeared in Stain Technology:

Fink S (1987) Some new methods for affixing sections to glass
slides. I. Aqueous adhesives. Stain Technol. 62: 27-33.

Archimbaud E, Islam A, Preisler HD (1986) Alcian blue method for
attaching glycol methacrylate sections to glass slides. Stain
Technol. 61: 121-123.

Fink S (1987) Some new methods for affixing sections to glass
slides. II. Organic solvent-based adhesives. Stain Technol. 62:
93-99.

Dille JE (1984) Use of isopropyl hydrogen sulfate (Rain-X) on
coverslips to prevent cell loss during permanent slide
preparation. Stain Technol. 59: 123-124.

Edwards R, Price R (1982) Butvar B-98 resin as a section
adhesive. Stain Technol. 57: 50.

Slater M (1989) Adherence of LR White sections to glass slides
for silver enhancement of immunogold labeling. Stain Technol. 64:
297-299.

The two papers by Fink are particularly thorough and highly
innovative. 
The methods of slide preparation are rather involved for a busy
lab, but
could probably be easily adapted to mass production in a factory.

There's also polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) glue (the white stuff),
which has 
been highly recommended in some Histonet emails. Try searching
for "Elmer's" 
in the Archives. For what it's worth, years ago I tried some
Finnish PVAc 
glue sent to me with a reprint by the author of a paper 
(Jarvinen M, Rinne A 1983. The use of polyvinyl acetate glue to
prevent detachment of tissue sections in immunohistochemistry.
Acta Histochem. 72: 751-752). 
I thought I followed the instructions properly, but it didn't
work for me!

Conclusion: Ask Merck/VWR "How can I prepare slides for myself
that are
as good as your superfrosties?" If they reply they will probably
tell you
what to do, one way or another.

John Kiernan
Department  of  Anatomy  and  Cell  Biology
The  University  of  Western  Ontario
London,   Canada   N6A 5C1
_______________________________________________________
carl hobbs wrote:
> 
> John, can you definitively state what type of adhesive Merck/VWR use on the
> Superfrost plus slides they sell? I ask in context of AG retrieval on FFPW
> sections. Before silane- coating became the norm, I used to use "subbing
> solution" but then found silane better( I used to double-sub for
> skin/cartilage tissues, for example, to obtain good adhesion thro the M/W
> process). Any other adhesive was useless. I compared silane and Superfrost
> plus for quite a while before opting for the (  more expensive) latter.
> Gayle Callis has suggested that they also use silane but, if so, perhaps
> their slides are more rigourously cleaned, to give the better adhesion for
> "difficult " tissues?
> NB. I have used the range of "buffers" cited for use in AG retrieval.
> Interestingly, using TRIS or EDTA at pH8-9 resulted in section loss yet,
> 10Mm TRIS pH10 is superb in many cases( also endogenous biotin is "wiped"
> out, unlike when using citric pH6). As pH10 is most definitely alkaline, how
> come the Superfrost slides are still excellent in keeping sections on the
> slide? I have to also admit that citric at pH6 sometimes results in loss of
> section detail sometimes, but not always. Any ideas why? I don't get this
> with TRISpH10 at all( mind you, some Ags need citric pH6, not
> TRISpH10.........TRISpH6 is no good for me)
>     Off subject, may I state that your Histotech book is the most
> informative/invaluable. It follows in the tradition of the  books that
> inform practice, that began with Drury and Wallington, then Disbrey and
> Wrack ( please forgive any spelling mistakes, it's from memory). It is also
> the most  enjoyable, apposite to current practise, book to read( as are your
> posts). It would be interesting to read a response from Russ Allison,
> another of my most respected Histotechs
> PS Can I borrow a fiver? Lol
> PPS
> Anyone wanting to cast their Qs wider may well be rewarded by posting,
> additionally to Hogne's site at http://home.no.net/immuno/discussion.html No
> pop-ups!
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
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