[Histonet] iliac artery attachment to slides?

[Herrick, James L. (Jim)]

Good morning everybody!!

I am trying to attach iliac arteries embedded in MMA (methyl
methacrylate + dibutyl phthalate + perkadox 16) to gelatin coated slides
to allow us to stain them with the Movat's Pentachrome. Unfortunately, I
have a real problem getting them to attach - shortly after they are
placed into 2-MEA for plastic removal, the section detaches from the
slide.

I have mounted hundreds of sections to slides before with great success,
but have never tried iliac arteries before. When mounting them using the
conventional method (a drop of 50% ETOH, roll them onto the slide using
a plastic coverslip, clamping the stack and placing it into a 45 - 50
degree Celcius oven for 24 to 48 hours), the sections attach beautifully
and do not fall off during deplasticization. The problem is that they
are completely consumed with wrinkles around the entire circular area of
the artery, rendering them unuseable.

I have tried dry mounting (without using 50% ETOH or dH2O), I have tried
floating the section onto a slide from a warm ETOH or dH2O solution (in
water bath), I have tried using a slide warmer, I have tried a heat gun
at low and high temperature settings, etc., etc.. The sections look
great using the dry mounting methods (i.e. they don't wrinkle), but they
detach from the slide very quickly following submersion in 2-MEA. It
appears to me that the wrinkles appear following the introduction of the
ETOH or dH2O.

If anyone would have any suggestions or comments, it would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks again for all of your help.

Have a great day!!
Jim