Dea Nicola

Could this be an orietation problem? I always found that it was easier to 
section skin when the tissue was (a) orientated so that the epidermis was 
cut last as the blade/knife passed through the tissue and (b) if the tissue 
was angled slightly so that the minimum area was presented to the cutting 
edge.

Finally, although this might bring down a cascade of criticism : try warming 
the block slightly with a suitably gloved finger before taking each section

best regards


Louise Renton
Bone Research Unit
MRC
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel & fax +27 11 717 2298
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana"





----Original Message Follows----
From: ncragg 
To: 'HistoNet Server' 
Subject: Problems cryosectioning skin
Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 11:29:35 +0100

Please can someone advise me on how to cut good cryosections of skin? I am
having real trouble getting good mouse sections, the tissue tears and
separates from the OCT as I'm cutting it. I've tried changing the
temperature, from -20 to -15, as the manual for the cyrostat seem to be
saying the temperature was too cold, changing the clearance angle, new
blades, changing the speed - I'm exasperated. I know it does take a lot of
practice to get the technique right, I learnt this with paraffins, but I
really don't know what I'm doing wrong. Please help!! I have 200 samples to
cut!!!
Yours desperately,
Nicola Cragg

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