[Histonet] Exploding skin discussion

[Johnson, Teri]

I have to agree with Gayle on this one.  We too had problems with our
mouse skin samples exploding on the waterbath and tried all the usual
fixes, lowering the temp, and increasing the dehydration and
infiltration times on the processor.  The longer processing times made
things worse!  With rodent samples, less is more so I would certainly
try the 45 minute/station suggestion and see what happens.  Adequate
fixation is a must.
 
As to the reasoning for a xylene step between absolute alcohols on the
processor, this tends to help very fatty tissues de-fat more (though
I've never used it personally, it seems to make sense.  There is a post
about it in the recent archives.).  However, this is NOT necessary for
rodent tissue in my experience, and could possibly be causing more of
your problems.
 

Teri Johnson
Managing Director Histology Facility
Stowers Institute for Medical Research
1000 E. 50th St.
Kansas City, Missouri  64110
tjj <@t> stowers-institute.org