Cresyl violet. Was [Histonet] (no subject)

[John A. Kiernan]

You identify your dye as cresyl violet acetate. 
Does the bottle of dye powder carry a little label 
indicating that the batch was certified by the 
Biological Stain Commission (BSC)? If your dye 
is not from a certified batch it may be no good.

The cresyl violet name has been attached to a variety 
of mixtures of cationic oxazine dyes. See Conn's 
Biological Stains for more information. Certified cresyl 
violet will always work as a Nissl stain if it's used 
in the technique with which it was tested in the BSC's 
lab. This has been published on various occasions, 
most recently by Penney et al (2002) in 
Biotechnic & Histochemistry 77:237-275. 

The second of the two cresyl violet methods in 
Freida Carson's textbook (which you cite in your 
email) is closely similar to the BSC's testing
technique. Both procedures are explained in detail
there (pp 159-161), with colour photos of the desired 
result. 

You are using cryostat sections rather than 
paraffin. The staining may become more controllable
if you take the slides to 100% alcohol and back to
water before staining. 

John Kiernan
Anatomy, UWO
London, Canada
____________________
Patrick Laurie wrote:
> 
> I am trying to stain for motor neurons on frozen 8um sections for LCM.  I
> have been working with the .5% Cresyl Violet Acetate stain (Carson's version
> of Vacca's stain) and all of it's derivatives.  I am trying to counter the
> differentiation of the alcohols used to completely dehydrate the sections
> and leaving very little stain left.  I am aiming for RNA preservation, so
> length of time in the stain is important.  I would appreciate any tips.
> Thanks,
> 
> Patrick Laurie HT (ASCP)
> Neurogenomics Laboratory
> Benaroya Research Institute
> 1201 9th Ave
> Seattle, Wa  98101
> (206) 341-0681
> 
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