[Histonet] AO-860 Sliding Microtome + OCT Embedded Tissue?

[Amos Brooks]

Hi,
   Got a walk in freezer? Really, cutting "large slabs of OCT embedded
material" is just not possible on a sliding microtome unless you keep that
microtome in a -20 freezer. You could cut small blocks on it by mounting the
OCT on a large chuck and surrounding it with dry ice. This will really only
work with small blocks though, since the center of the larger slabs will not
be in direct contact with the ice and will melt. You would be better off
using paraffin embedded material. Find a good priest because I anticipate
you'll be doing a lot of cursing.

Good luck,
Amos

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 1:00 PM,
<histonet-request <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>wrote:

> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:03:03 -0400
> From: Francis OBrien <francisobrien2007 <@t> gmail.com>
> Subject: [Histonet] AO-860 Sliding Microtome + OCT Embedded Tissue?
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Message-ID:
>        <CAKmFSPfpqDo1eBMg_BCfsKvaJZpLCeVyTDkq2HVp_DZKkr8ZQw <@t> mail.gmail.com
> >
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hello,
>
> I am a newbie to this type of work. We have flash frozen tissue in OCT
> (Optimal Cutting Temperature) compound for some unique experiments
> that we need to carry out. We want to use a AO-860 sliding microtome
> to cut large slabs of OCT embedded tissue. Does anyone have any advice
> on how this would work reproducibly and reliably on the freezing
> stage.
>
> Best,
>
> Francis
>