[Histonet] Horseshoe crab..help!

[Judith L. Williams]

Hi all- chitin (invertebrate shell) is not the same as keratin (fingernails)but that may work! In the past I have found with the inverts I did histo on that long term storage in 70% ETOH rendered the chitin very very soft. so - maybe try this. Another thing to try is chitinase.
good luck with the invert project!
Judy




On Thu, 28 May 2009, Ingles Claire  wrote:

> Anyone please correct me if I'm wrong, but is chitin similar to fingernails? If so, we just use Nair for a bit. You may need to use it for a few hours since the shell in horseshoe crabs is harder than regular fingernails.
> Claire
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu on behalf of Deborah Faichney
> Sent: Thu 5/28/2009 4:56 AM
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Subject: [Histonet] Horseshoe crab..help!
>
>
>
> Hi all,
>
> I have a Masters student here who has Horseshoe crab tissues fixed in 10% NBF.  Most of the tissues have been sectioned successfully but the eyes are surrounded by armour plated chitin! (she broke two Dremel drills trying to cut the carapace and finally tin snips had to be used to cut them out!!).
> Any thoughts on how to soften them?  Looking around on the Net, I have found  that processing and clearing through Chloroform may soften, also a solution called Diaphanol has been recommended.
> At the moment they have been two days in a 1 part acetic acid to 5 parts NBF with no effect.
> We only have a couple of weeks to do this work so cannot adopt any trial or lengthy methods.
>
> Is this possible?  I like a challenge, but suspect this needs a miracle.  Its no wonder these beasties have been on the planet for so long.
> Many thanks
>
> Debbie Faichney
> Histopathology
> Institute of Aquaculture
> University of Stirling
> Stirling, FK7 7QS
> Scotland
> Uk
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Judith Williams, PhD, HT(ASCP)
Research Scientist
Department of Comparative Medicine
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195