[Histonet] Equipment available to the highest bidder

Hi list, On 21 of February we will have the following equipment available to the highest bidder: 1. Tissue processor - Tissue Tek VIP-E (still in use) 2. Tissue processor - SHANDON Citadel 2000 One paraffin tank missing 3. JUNG AUTOSTAINER LX (still in use) By the en

[Histonet] For H&E staining - TBS SHUR/Stain or Leica Autostainer XL

I have and love my old Autostainer XL. Now we are offered a new TBS SHUR/Stain unit, which is attractively small, but I have never used nor seen it in person. We are a small University based lab and our space is limited. We rarely run few racks at a time. However, we must be able to run only dep

[Histonet] Research and Clinical Labs

For 10 years I ran Histology lab for a large University. We used the same equipment and lab for both animal and human tissue. I had to certify the lab with CLEA for human tissue at one point (and this took serious work!). If you are already certified for human, using the more strict regulations w

[Histonet] Measure productivity by skill level

THANKS! It worked J Michelle ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

[Histonet] Measure productivity by skill level

I would also be interested to know that. I am not even familiar with Welcan units. Would someone please elaborate? Michelle Aloni ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histone

[Histonet] Need to compare prices

Hi all, We do Histology and Immunology primarily on liver tissue and only for research. I need to check the prices of other cores and present numbers for comparison as soon as possible. I remember that some time ago there was a question about prices for Histology in a research environment.

[Histonet] Sirius red stain - picric acid substitute

Hi Mia, I tried few different sources of Picric acid. Unfortunately, not all of them worked. The one that is working is from Rowley Biochemical Institute - www.rowleybio.com . I got a small bottle to try - 4 oz. Cat # SO-128. You can probably find it from one of the large vendors. Just a h

[Histonet] Oil Red O for FS on Muscle

Few more things: 1. The mixed/working solution is good for 1-2 hours only. If you filter it for a long time, this might use the good working time and then you have trouble, because it just won't work well for you. I just poor the stain and the water in a glass cylinder and shake it. That'

[Histonet] Oil Red O for FS on Muscle

Hi Akemi, Order the stain from Electron Microscopy Sciences - cat # 26503-02. It comes as 250 ml solution and is a lot less expensive than some other sources. I guess you can probably get it through VWR. Mix 3 parts of this stock with 2 parts dist. Water and let it stand for 10 min. Filt

[Histonet] Formalin

Absolutely not!!! In California. Safety office picks it up and dispose of it. Michelle Aloni ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

RE: [Histonet] Oil Red O control

Once you mix your stock solution with water, it is good for only about an hour. Then you have to discard it. Michelle Aloni MS HTL (ASCP) USC Keck School of Medicine ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwe

[Histonet] Need maintenance contract in LA

Hi all, We have a very small University lab. We don't work with human tissue, so we don't actually need to show record of maintenance. We would like to cover our histology equipment with a maintenance contract just in case because it is mostly old. Does someone in LA area offer maintenance f

[Histonet] Histomorphometry

We use MetaMorph software. It comes with a digital camera for taking the pictures. You can get the software only if you have already the micrioscope and the camera. You can easily measure anything you want, but it is costly. Michelle USC School of Medicine LA CA ___

[Histonet] HM 500 M cryostat

Hi Andrew, I worked on different cryostats and I have memories of chuck going up. The section is cold and sturdy and I would just let it follow the chuck up as it is still attached to it. Then pull down, touch it to the knife so it sits there (it gets attached at the bottom) and pick it up. It

[Histonet] Is anybody using TBS ATP1 - 120 tissue processor?

Hi all, Would you please let me know off line what do you think about this unit? macve...@usc.edu Thank you very much in advance Michelle Aloni MS HTL ASCP ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mai

[Histonet] Histology stainers

Hi histoneters, We have an old Jung Autostainer XL, which has been great, but it is very old and on its way out. What kind of newer stainers are you guys using? Should I even look at something diferent? I also would like to hear from the people using Exelsior tissue processor. Do you guys like

[Histonet] TUNEL

We also use Roche kits. The cat # 11 684 795 910 is for fluorescent and cat# 11 684 817 910 is for loight microscope. There are aditional chemicals to purchase, beside the kit. Call Roche for more info. Good luck! Michelle USC School of Medicine ___

[Histonet] How do I subscribe?

Hi all, Can someone tell me - how does one subscribe to Master Tech Flyer? Thank you in advance Michelle ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

Re: [Histonet] mouse kidney frozen sectioning

Hi Andrew, You must freeze fast to avoid the needle like crystals forming from the water during freezing. Best - freeze in OCT in liquid Nitrogen. It gets worse if you keep changing the temp of the block. For example keep at -80 then bring to -20 cut than bring the temp down to remove the block

[Histonet] Does anyone have and use Shandon Excelsior EX

Hi all, According to the advertisement, this is supposed to be the most histotech friendly processor. Does anyone have a comment? Michelle ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/hist

[Histonet] Re: Liver Tissue

Soak the faced block in room temp. water for few minutes. This will speed the intake of water. I can usually cut it at room temp if I am careful. If your paraffin is soft then you will need to soak it in room temp water first and then put ice on it and cut it. Pick up the ribbon and place on roo

[Histonet] Licensing for Massachusetts?

Hi all, I live in Los Angeles and have HT and HTL from CA. I would like to move to Cape Cod in couple of years. I know that one needs a special Florida license to work in Fl, but do I need a special license from Massachusetts to be able to do histology there? I would appreciate any info Miche

[Histonet] Re: Frozen Myocardium sections

The OCT cracks if the block remains in liquid N too long. I use a plastic mold, which holds my tissue in the OCT. Float the mold on the surface of the liquid N but pull it out of there while there is still a little liquid/clear OCT (about 6-7mm in diameter) in the middle of the forming block. Pu

[Histonet] Overstained Sirius Red...

Hi everybody, I have been doing Sirius Red for a while with good luck. Today we made fresh solutions and after the stain was done, the sections (rat liver) are too red. They are positive, the fibrosis is bright pink, but the background is pink as well. I got a slide back to water and distained

[Histonet] Re: DAB and Nuclear staining

Hi Melissa, We use Mayer's hematoxylin for 5 min and then rinse in tap water for at least 5 min (to blue the stain). If your DAB stain is weak, you can counterstain for even shorter time. It works great! The other option would be 1% Methil Green in 0.1M Sodium Acetate. My Methil powder is ext

[Histonet] What do you use for decolorizing after Hematox.

Hi all, In my H&E staining I always used 1% acid alcohol. (Working with conc. HCl is not fun!) There is the Orth's solution available already made, but it is 3%. Do you use that? How do you use it? What do you use in your regulat H&E stain? I am using it on an old Jung AUTOSTAINER. Michelle

[Histonet] Re: working with mouse liver

Hi Teri, We have been discussing this option and left it at that. I have noticed that the livers, with more lipids look much closer to the textbook images. Michelle, Could it be what you are seeing is normal healthy (actively feeding) liver in mice and the missing cytoplasm is where the glyc

[Histonet] working with mouse liver...

Hi all, We have a small liver core and we are having problem with the look/morphology of the liver. It looks like large part of the cytoplasm of the liver cells is missing. The normal mice are the worst. (It is not fat that is dissolved.) We use commercially made 10% NBF and tried fixing for dif

[Histonet] Re: from PLEASE HELP

Hi Delia, Some time ago I used to work in a lab where I had to cut skin punch biopsies. They used to come floating in a special preservative. Unfortunately I don't remember its name, but then I had to wash them in a special wash solution for a minute. The wash solution was made by Zeus Scientif

[Histonet] Poly Slides

Hi Diane, I used poly coated slydes (which we made in our lab years ago to save money). Then the plus slides came along but are pricey. I just tested and liked a new source for my plus slides which are extremely well priced and worked just like the FISHER and VWR slides... only for half the pr

[Histonet] Re: Immunocytochemistry for Systems biology

Hi Vinay, I am not an expert in this field... We use this protocol for frozen sections and it works. For cells grown on coverslips you skip step #6. Try this : Fix 1. PBS 2 x 3min 2. NH4Cl 5 min (50mM in PBS) (R

[Histonet] Re: Citadel Tissue Processor

Hi Atoska, We do only research and have low volume. We purchased a second hand one and used it for about a year. It works and does the job. It is much better than having to process manually but: The alcohols evaporate like crazy! You loose a lot. It must be in a hood. There is no heating nor va

[Histonet] Fat histology

Hi Karen, I had the same problem recently. I got very good advise trough the histonet for working with fat. You might want to check the arhives. In my case, I was in a big time crunch with this dog fat, so after all the fat was collected and stored for a while in 10% NBF I did'nt have any time

[Histonet] Re: Working with fat

Thank you very much! This sounds perfect! Michelle ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet

[Histonet] Re: Working with fat

Hi Cheri, Thank you very much for the formula. I will give it a try. Do you just put the fat into it or it is a post fix? After the hour into this solution, what do you do? Do you move it to NBF or 70% ETOH until you start the processor? How long can the fat stay in this fixative? This is a resea

[Histonet] Working with fat

Hi all, I used to postfix in PenFix the fat specimens and had good luck. This time we don't have any PenFix :-( The fat is floating in 10% NBF. What can I do to help the fixation, so I can infiltrate well enough, so I can cut the fat and get good morphology? Any suggestion is welcome Michelle

Re: [Histonet] microtome vibration:

Hi Ana, First, I would remove the knife and the knife holder and clean everything from even the smallest debris. After it is all spotless, I would put it together, make sure all screws are tight and try it again. More likely this will solve the problem. Second - look carefully at the knife hold

[Histonet] Leica Bond Max - any opinions?

Hi all, I am researching the Leica Bond Max immunostainer and I like its features as advertised. The advertisement however states that the system is completely open, but after discussing it in length with the Leica rep I am finding that this is actually not so... We are a research core and

[Histonet] Glicerol jelly with anti-fading agent

We use the ProLong Antifade Kit (P7481) from Molecular probes. It comes as: 1. Powdered ProLong antifade reagent (Component A) 20 vials of powder. 2. ProLong mounting medium (Component B) in 2 bottles - 15 mL each. 1mL of component B should be mixed well in a vial of powder. This should be use

[Histonet] Need any info for JUNG HISTOSTAINER Ig

Hi all, We do research. We got a hand me down JUNG AUTOSTAINER XL which now does all the H&E and it is a blessing! Now I am thinking about purchasing a second hand Immunostainer to run some immunos, so we can use our time for something better than babysitting the slides. There is a very inexp