Hi Bernice,
If you have any intentions of putting this sample on an enclosed tissue processor for paraffin infiltration, after methacrylate removal, you must remove every trace of methyl methacrylate monomer. Traces (even small traces) of methacrylate monomer can wreck havoc on most enclosed tissue processor solvent-transfer lines and pump gaskets; you could end up with a very expensive repair bill. For transferring into paraffin, you’re better off treating these samples as you would treat a section you wish to deplasticize. Assuming your sample was properly fixed and processed from the beginning, xylene or toluene will do the job of breaking down the polymerized methacrylate just fine. Once the trimmed-down block has dissolved down, several more changes are required to remove the methacrylate and avoid potential carryover danger. As an additional safeguard, I would take the sample back to 200 proof ethanol or 100% reagent ethanol for a couple of changes & then start the paraffin infiltration process with the last ethanol step on your processor. If you need to decalcify this sample, then you can just continue on back to water and start from the beginning. Yes, you can do any tinctorial stain on your ground sections if etched well beforehand. -Damien L. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet