[Histonet] Storing frozen TMA sections

[Patsy Ruegg]

Christie,
I store frozen tissue blocks which have been carefully resealed with OCT
after sectioning at -80 in freezer quality zip locks.  I put the tissue in
one zip lock seal it and then store that bag inside another zip lock with
some dessicant in it.  I can imagine that taking the tissue from -80 to
cyrostat temps (usually around -20) repeatedly may cause some degradation.
Although, I have stored tissues this way for years for tonsil controls for
instance and gone back and forth serveral times with no apparent ill
effects.
As for storing the cut slides, I usally airdry overnight and store the
section without fixation wrapped in foil and double bagged as for the frozen
blocks.  I fix just before staining.  I take the bag out of the freezer
which also has dessicant in it and let it come to rt (about 15-30 min.)
before opening the sealed bag to prevent water forming on the section.
Patsy 

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of CHRISTIE
GOWAN
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 10:53 AM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Storing frozen TMA sections

I know this is an old problem but I was wondering if Patsy Ruegg or Chris
Van der Loos or anyone for that matter could send me their protocol for
storing frozen TMA sections. Has anyone ever tried to store them in vacuum
sealed (Food Saver) bags? I work for a company that provides frozen TMA
slides for customers. We section them as needed and have discovered that the
tissue starts showing freezer artifact after going into the block about
10-12 times. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Christie Gowan



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