Re: Amido-Schwartz
From: | "J. A. Kiernan" <jkiernan@julian.uwo.ca> |
On Mon, 13 Nov 2000, Cox, Elizabeth wrote:
> Can anyone tell me what Amido-Schwartz is? A colleague is trying to stain
> fish otoliths but the method does not give much detail on what this stain
> is.
Sounds like amido black 10B, which has various synonyms
including naphthol blue black, buffalo black NBR and
naphthalene black 10B. The CI number 20470 and application
name Acid black 1 identify the compound more certainly.
It's in the Sigma catalogue as naphthol blue black, and
they sell two grades ($22 or $42 per 100g, with 50% and
80% dye content respectively). I'm sure other chemical
companies and stain vendors also have it in their lists.
It's used by biochemists for staining proteins in
electrophoresis gels.
The usual histological use of this dye is the collagen
stain in a mixture with picric acid (replacing the
acid fuchsine in van Gieson's mixture). I don't know
which grade would be better for this purpose, but
common sense seems to say that the one with higher
dye content could always the used at lower concentration
if necessary. This is a dis-azo dye and almost certainly
contains more than one coloured product, and possibly
other impurities that might help or hinder the staining
action.
I've not used this dye myself. For discussion and
references see RD Lillie 1977. Conn's Biological
Stains, 9th ed, pp 142-143. One of Lillie's comments is
that some brands sold as C.I. Acid black 1 are "excellent"
whereas others are "quite unsuitable" for staining fine
collagen & reticular fibres and basement membranes from
mixtures with picric acid.
John A. Kiernan,
Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
The University of Western Ontario,
LONDON, Canada N6A 5C1
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