[Histonet] Re: Plastic sectioning basics

[Linda Jenkins]

Dear Jorge,
         You know, I never did care to eat anchovies and, apparently, they 
don't section  well either! <laughing>  As Gayle said in her message, I do 
section GMA with disposable blades.  I use a variety of high profile, 
stainless steel disposable blades...they all work well.  I have a Leica 
2155 and set the angle between 0 - 5.  Is the 2145 a manual or motorized 
microtome?  Hopefully, it is motorized  as this makes sectioning GMA a lot 
easier.  Our labs in South Carolina are very humid and we leave our GMA 
blocks under vacuum with Drierite (brandname dessicant) until sectioning 
each block.
         Unfortunately, there are no classical books devoted to plastic 
sectioning per se.  You can get bits and pieces from some books.  Try, 
"Handbook of Histology Methods for Bone and Cartilage"  by An & Martin, 
Humana Press, 2003.
         Best wishes,
         Linda


Linda Jenkins, HT
Clemson University
Dept. of Bioengineering
Clemson, SC 29634-0905
864.656.5553
http://www.ces.clemson.edu/bio/research/histo.htm