Does anybody know if it is possible to store air-dried blood smears (in our case of zebrafish larvae) at 4°C, for example, for some days before PFA-fixation and subsequent TUNEL staining? Or better, add the PFA fixation step and keep the sample in PBS at 4°C?
you can try with immediate fixation in methanol and subsequent storage of fixed smears in the same methanol at 4?, works very well for immunocytochemistry and I'm sure it'll work for TUNEL.
I believe that immediate fixation in methanol it's effective in blood smear, but if you need to refrigerate the sample I suggest to use something thah dehydrated aroun the slide. It's common the slide become wet and with poor quality of the smear if put in refrigerator.
Slides fixed in methanol should be stored in the same methanol in refrigerator, drying before or after fixation will negatively affect the staining
OK, thank you. So I will not store the air-dried slides for longer in the fridge. The TUNEL protocol we are using utilizes PFA fixation. Right now, I hesitate to change to methanol fixation...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Anatomy
- Tissue