[Histonet] benzyl benzoate clearing agent

[Corazon D. Bucana]

Thank you for the info.  I heard a talk about confocal microscopy of 
embryos immunolabeled for some protein that I can't remember now but the 
speaker mentioned benzyl benzoate as a clearing agent after the embryos 
were immunolabeled and claims that they are able to create a stack of 
optical sections to a depth of 300 microns .  This is quite a feat because 
most often we only look at 50-100 microns thick sections.  I wrote the 
speaker asking for the procedure but so far I haven't had a response which 
is why I thought somebody at the Histonet will have an idea about this agent.
Thanks
Cora Bucana


>Benzyl benzoate (phenyl methyl benzoate)
>Refractive index 1.5685 to 1.570.
>Miscible with alcohol, chloroform, ether and xylene.
>Never heard of it being used for fluorescence microscopy.
>It has been used as a clearing agent and mountant for thin museum
>specimens, often with small amount of methyl salicylate added. The
>problem with benzyl benzoate is that it is intolerant of water so cannot
>breathe on the specimen while it is being mounted.
>Hope this helps
>Barry
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Corazon
>D. Bucana
>Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2004 4:15 PM
>To: Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>Subject: [Histonet] benzyl benzoate clearing agent
>
>I would appreciate any information on the use of benzyl alcohol/benzyl
>benzoate as a clearing agent for tissues.  I understand this could be
>used
>in combination with fluorescence staining to image thick sections but I
>have not seen any reference to it in the literature (Pub Med search).  I
>
>hope somebody out there can direct me to a book or journal that mentions
>
>this agent.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Cora Bucana
>
>
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