[Histonet] Crumbling frozen sections

[Martin S.]

Hi All,
 
I have been doing a lot of frozen sectioning of mouse tissues. I remove
the organ (spleen, lymph nodes, liver etc) from the mouse immerse it in
OCT in a foil mould and then place in a bath of isopentane on dry ice.
This has been working really well and I have been getting good sections.
 
I am now looking at some human tissue (colo-rectal and liver tumours). I
receive a small piece of tissue from the surgeon which I have been
treating as for the mouse tissue. However I am finding it very hard  to
get good sections. The tissue seems very flaky and crumbly and either
disintegrates on cutting or if I do get what looks like an ok section by
the time I have gone through the staining procedure it has completely
gone!
 
I am not sure how long it takes between the tissue being removed and me
getting the sample - maybe 30min - could this be the cause?
 
I have some old colo-rectal tumours that were snap frozen in liquid
nitrogen and they seem much better - I think I'll try doing this from
now on but just wondering if anyone has any insight into why I'm having
such problems.
 
Thanks!
 
Sonya