[Histonet] pressure cookers for IHC

[Jan Shivers]

Hi Jen,

I think you should first check your quality control governing group rules 
regarding equipment data verification to see if a store-bought pressure 
cooker meets the required quality control standards.  I'm using Biocare's 
Decloaking Chamber for my HIER now.  Yes, the machine is an expensive piece 
of equipment, but when we were using a microwave to do the HIER, I could not 
verify the temperature (I was using a kitchen microwave oven).  With the 
Decloaker, I now have a dial and digital readout which show the 
pressure/temps, and this gets recorded in a log book every time we use the 
machine.

I must say, using this device has increased my positive staining perhaps 
double of what I was getting with the microwave... and I thought I was 
getting strong staining with the microwave!  I've had to dilute out my 
antibodies, which is a good thing.

Jan Shivers
Univ. of Minnesota
Vet Diag Lab

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jennifer Campbell" <jcampbell <@t> vdxpathology.com>
To: <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 9:44 AM
Subject: [Histonet] pressure cookers for IHC


Hi everyone,

Does anyone use a pressure cooker for heat induced epitope retrieval?  I
know there are a lot of fancy antigen retrieval units out there that you
can buy specifically for IHC but, I know a lot of people just use a
pressure cooker with the same success.  Any specifics as to what type of
pressure cooker to use? Protocol used as far as the temp and for how
much time?  Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Jen C.
_______________________________________________
Histonet mailing list
Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet