Dear Dr. Jaqueline Vaz Vanini

Have you tried Cresyl Violet?

It is commonly used to stain tissue sections in LCM because it allows for clear visualization of cell morphology, enabling precise selection of specific cell populations for isolation and analysis. It is a basic dye that primarily stains the cell nucleus, highlighting cellular boundaries and details due to its affinity for nucleic acids like the RNA. The distinct staining pattern provided by Cresyl Violet allows one to accurately identify the target cells within a tissue section.

However, in cases where the tissue morphology has been damaged, Cresyl Violet might not clearly show cell distribution. In such cases, you may have to use Acridine Orange stain which may provide better contrast between clusters of cells. But you will require a microscope that must be equipped for fluorescent detection. Acridine Orange staining offers an advantage when microdissecting single cells, because cells isolated by LCM will fluoresce on the cap after the microdissection, making it easy to assess whether the tissue/cell was effectively microdissected and retrieved.

Regards,

Malcolm Nobre

Thank you Malcolm Nobre ! I will try these. Do you work routinely with LCM, or worked with it before? It's been challenging, so it would be good to talk to someone with more experience!

Best,

Jaqueline