Dear Histonetters,

I have inherited a project of 2% paraformaldehyde/2%
glutaraldehyde/ruthenium red fixed rat tibia embedded at low temperature in
MMA.  I hope someone out there is immunostaining bone and can give me
advice.

Basically, I need two miracles:  
1)  BrDU   Can anyone tell me why I can not retrieve this antigen in MMA? 
(I have tried steam, boiling citrate
buffer, autoclave, pepsin digestion)   A couple specimens were embedded in
epon/araldite and can be successfully stained with a Becton-Dickinson
primary antibody.   
2)  TGF-beta1   Can anyone suggest a primary antibody for TGF-beta1 to be
used in this same rat tibia tissue?

As you can see I really need your collective experience.  Thanks in
advance.

Judy Strauss
Institute for Human Performance
SUNY Upstate Medical University
Department of Orthopedic Surgery
Syracuse, New York