[Histonet] Drying of Cryosections

Wed Nov 12 14:56:36 CST 2003

Hi everyone. I have a quick question. I've been getting some strange results while staining for MMP-2 and MMP-9 in mouse lungs. I section the tissue, allow them to get to room temp, then I fix them in cold acetone for 10 min. I air-dry the slides for 30 min before staining. And when I stain I barely get any positive even in the positive controls, but when I do the same as above except after fixation I allow the slides to dry overnight, the following day I get really good staining, specific to blood vessels and airways, where MMPs are found. Does anyone have an explanation for that? Am I getting a false positive? Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Nidal E Muvarak
Associate Research Specialist
Vascular Tissue Biomechanics Laboratory
Department of Biomedical Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1550 Engineering Dr.; Rm. 2158
Madison, WI 53706-1609
Lab: (608) 265-8921; Office: (608) 265-4205; 
Home: (608) 256-7934; Cell: (608) 332-6068
http://vtb.bme.wisc.edu