Can you afford a pressure cooker? Hows about a vegetable steamer? Those are
supposed to work well. Bruce Gapinski HT(ASCP)

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	=?UNKNOWN?Q?V=E9ronique?= Wunderle
[mailto:vwunderle@yahoo.com]
		Sent:	Wednesday, October 24, 2001 12:37 AM
		To:	histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
		Subject:	antigen retrieval

		hi everybody !
		Being pretty new in the big world of
		immunohistochemistry I am asking myself lots of
		questions (some people tells me it's a good thing..). 
		I know that I should get a good book on the subject
		(any advice ?) but I find that "real-life" experience
		is often much more informative.
		So the question of the day is about antigen retrieval.
		I have been looking around for different protocols and
		most of them use a microwave oven. I can't buy right
		now a microwave especially for IHC and I am a bit
		concerned about setting up parameters on an oven used
		extensively for other purposes. I am a bit anxious
		that the life span of this oven is going to be pretty
		short...
		So, I tried the heating plate protocol (10mn in
		boiling citrate buffer) on brain sections. So far, it
		seems to be working pretty well. But I may be lucky.
		I am therefore wondering if people out there tried
		this and what you think about it. What make you prefer
		the microwave method and here is the ultimate question
		: is a microwave oven a "must have" for doing
		incredible IHC ?
		all your advices are welcome...
		veronique.

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