[Histonet] Remove OCT from frozen tissue block

[Paula Sicurello]

Hi Benoit,

You can just let the OCT thaw at room temperature then blot away the melted
OCT.  To speed up the thawing process carefully cut away as much of the OCT
as you can with a scalpel or razor blade and then let it thaw.

I hope this information is helpful.

Paula


On Thu, Oct 31, 2013 at 3:57 AM, Benoît Delatour <benoit.delatour <@t> upmc.fr>wrote:

> Dear histoneters,
> We got mice brains that were initially sucrose-cryoprotected and then
> embedded in OCT - flash frozen and stored at -80°C. These tissues were
> initially prepared for subsequent cryostat sectioning but due to technical
> considerations we need to cut them using a sliding microtome to get thick
> (40µm) floating sections. We therefore would like to remove OCT before
> cutting. As OCT is water soluble it is expected that placing the OCT blocks
> in buffer would help removing the embedding media but thawing the tissue
> and then re-freezing it on the microtome stage might not be the best way to
> proceed (expected formation of ice crystals with known associated
> histological artefacts)...
> We would appreciate any alternative solutions. Thanks!
> Benoît
>
>
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-- 
Paula Sicurello, HTL (ASCP)
Supervisor, Clinical Electron Microscopy Laboratory
Duke University Health System
Rm.#251M, Duke South, Green Zone
Durham, North Carolina 27710
P:  919.684.2091

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