[Histonet] Finding iron in decalcified sections

[Farish, Craig]

Hi folks - I'd very much appreciate some help with this problem. I've
been asked to performing the routine histo for a trial investigating the
ability of chickens to sense direction. They are believed to have areas
of iron rich tissue in their beaks which can detect the magnetic field
of the earth in the same fashion as homing pigeons. The problem is this
- to section the beaks I need to decalcify them, however I'm pretty sure
that standard decalcification removes iron, at least partly. I know that
the levels of iron in the tissue are very low and I've just trialled my
technique on a pigeon with no success. I'm using a standard Perl stain
(2% HCl + 2% K Ferrocyanide for 20 mins) on FFPE tissue which usually
works very well for me, fixation is for a minimum of 24 hours in either
10%NBF or Bouins and decalcification is in either 5% Nitric acid or
formic acid. Would anyone have any suggestions as to how to decal
without removing iron or another stain which I could use in this
situation?

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions,

Craig 

 

Craig (Joe) Farish

Senior Technical Officer

Veterinary Diagnostics

School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Charles Sturt University

Wagga Wagga, Australia

c farish <@t> csu.edu.au

 

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