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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Hi All</FONT>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">We have had a problem with a batch of Menzel Superfrost Plus slides (3451272). They have been made in a way that makes them more hydrophobic than usual.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">The problem may not have been noticed by others because it only occurs under certain circumstances, however the consequences can be extremely serious.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">The circumstances are:</FONT>
<OL TYPE=1><LI><FONT FACE="Arial">Use of a "flatbed" stainer where the slides are held horizontally</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial">Use of a bad batch of slides</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Arial">Use of these slides for antibodies which do not require pressure cooking, this usually means enzyme treatment or no treatment (sometimes even when heat treated in a 95-99</FONT><FONT FACE="Symbol">°</FONT><FONT FACE="Arial"> water bath as in the Herceptest) Pressure cooking the slides seems to overcome the hydrophobic nature of the "bad" slides.</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Wash buffer usually spreads okay on the slides, but when the reagent is dripped onto the slide it fails to spread evenly. This is usually not a problem if the section is a single piece of tissue and it is hit by the drops however if the section is composed of small pieces then some of these can be missed. Hence your controls may be fine, because they are often a single piece of a reasonable size, but you may miss a critical piece of tissue.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">I advise everyone who uses a flatbed horizontal stainer for sections<U> not requiring pressure cook antigen retrieval</U> to watch the addition of the dropped reagents. This problem is due to batch variation and may be slight or extreme depending on the batch.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Other users have noted problems with Superfrost Plus slides before (see histonet archives) We use Superfrost Plus slides because they are better than home made APES slides especially for our slides that are pressure cooked in high pH solution.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">All our reagents are from Dako and the Autostainer protocol is followed.</FONT>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Best Wishes</FONT>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Mike Bromley</FONT>
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<P><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Chief Biomedical Scientist</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Pathology</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Dumfries & Galloway Royal Infirmary</FONT>
<BR><FONT COLOR="#800000" FACE="Arial">Scotland, UK</FONT>
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