Under separate cover I am sending some tips on floating paraffin sections that may help you. René J.
--- On Mon, 12/29/08, David Waugh <dwa...@kent.edu> wrote: From: David Waugh <dwa...@kent.edu> Subject: [Histonet] decapod cuticle sections To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Date: Monday, December 29, 2008, 2:19 PM OK, I'm not a histologist, I'm a paleontologist (&%**'it Jim, I a Doctor not a....). I am trying to make paraffin sections of decalcified decapod cuticle (from modern material, not fossil). The major problem I have been having is that the sections keep falling off the slides during staining.... I was making my own slides with a solution from EMS (3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane in acetone) I lost more than 1/2 of my sections... so I got pre-coated slides (Poly-L-Lysine) from EMS. The sections still fall off! After the section are cut I float them on warm water (48C), they never fully flatten out...? I then slip the slides underneath to pick up the sections. With the slides I subbed, I followed the directions and heated them on a hotplate. The presubbed slides I just air dried. To help the sections stick, I also tried pushing some of them down on the slide with a wet filter paper after removal from the water bath. The slides where then de-waxed in two xylene baths and brought to water in a series of ETOH baths. The sections seem to fall off mostly in the ETOH baths, but sometimes in the xylene. I'm not looking for perfection here, I just need the sections to stick. When a few sections make it through my protocol they look OK. I'm doing this on a low budget, but keep spending more and more on stains, slides etc. I'm getting very frustrated! Any ideas? how long should the slides dry? heat, no heat? Thanks in advance! -David Kent State University Department of Geology Kent, Ohio 44242 dwa...@kent.edu www.personal.kent.edu/~dwaugh _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet