Sarah, Skin surface tends to dry out as well as the epithelial cells lose their nuclei as they migrate to the surface. The surface can also dry out after the application of antiseptics etc prior to biopsy. AND there is often the issue of the biopsy being allowed to dry prior to fixation.
This will affect the haematoxylin staining. To improve the staining, try pretreating the dewaxed sections with 1% periodic acid for 10 minutes prior to H&E staining. This might work. Regards Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC) Laboratory Manager & Senior Scientist Tel: 612 9845 3306 Fax: 612 9845 3318 the children's hospital at westmead Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA -----Original Message----- From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of SARAH REEVES Sent: Tuesday, 17 March 2009 7:58 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] Does anyone know why skin sections do not seem to take up haematoxylin as well as other tissues. The chromatin detail is not as good as with other tissues. Does anyone know why skin sections do not seem to take up haematoxylin as well as other tissues. The chromatin detail is not as good as with other tissues. ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust. If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager at the following email address: root.postmas...@ekht.nhs.uk www.kentandmedway.nhs.uk This footnote also confirms that although this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses, it is strongly recommended that you carry out your own virus scan of this message and any attachments. www.mimesweeper.com ********************************************************************** _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet ********************************************************************* This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message and any attachments are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of The Children's Hospital at Westmead This note also confirms that this email message has been virus scanned and although no computer viruses were detected, The Childrens Hospital at Westmead accepts no liability for any consequential damage resulting from email containing computer viruses. ********************************************************************** _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet