Paraformaldehyde from EMS Fixes Cells Well

Stanford
Pathology
Graduate Student

Overall

Quality of Results

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Company:

Electron Microscopy Sciences

Product Name:

Paraformaldehyde Aqueous Solution -16%

Catalog Number:

15710

Our lab utilizes paraformaldehyde fixation for immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence and for fixation of cells for flow cytometry. We utilized paraformaldehyde because it is a common fixation reagent.

Experimental Design and Results Summary

Application

Immunohistochemistry/Immunofluorescence, Flow Cytometry (just anything requiring general fixation of cells)

Starting Material

Either fresh frozen tissue cells (for IHC/IF) or single cell suspensions (for flow)

Protocol Overview

The reagent is provided at 16%. We typically dilute the reagent down to 4% in PBS then fix for varying amount of times, depending on the experiment (typically 10 minutes to 2 hours)

Tips

Nothing much.

Results Summary

Cells are well fixed using this reagent, and I have never noticed anything odd resulting from fixation using this product.

Additional Notes

Picture is a mouse small intestine section fixed with paraformaldehyde and stained with toluidine blue.

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Summary

The Good

Great at fixing cells, and extremely cheap

The Bad

Nothing to mention.

The Bottom Line

The product is a great reagent for fixing cells and is reliable and cheap.

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