[Histonet] Water under sections

[Patsy Ruegg]

This is all good advise. I always picked up section and tapped the slide on counter and then dried standing up. This is really a problem if you are at all above 5K feet in altitude where water boils violently at 92-93dc, which will destroy your tissue section. I have written a couple of papers about on this.

________________________________
From: Greg Dobbin <greg.dobbin at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2021 11:45 AM
To: b-frederick at northwestern.edu <b-frederick at northwestern.edu>
Cc: histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu <histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Water under sections

Hi Bernice,
In my lab, water under the sections is unique to charged slides. And you
are correct, if there is water under the section when the slides are heated
for antigen retrieval, the boiling (or at least very hot) water will damage
or entirely destroy the section.

We allow the charged slides to drain (upright) for a few minutes and then
carefully make a hole in the edge of the wax and use a Kimwipe or paper
towel to carefully wick the excess water out as much as we can without
touching the tissue section. Then we "flick" or shake sharply to remove any
residual water that may remain before we bake them (FYI, we choose not to
bake on the stainer). If after baking 30 mins at 60C, we notice water
(maybe someone was not as diligent earlier?), we wick away the excess and
bake for another 15 mins to ensure good adhesion of the section to the
slide before proceeding to the immunostainer. Hope this helps.
Greg

--
*Greg Dobbin*
1205 Pleasant Grove Rd
RR#2 York,
PE      C0A 1P0


*Everything in moderation...even moderation itself**!*