Aside from biochemical assays, it is becoming increasingly important to analyze proteins of interest in tissue samples. There are many ways one can label their protein(s) of interest in various tissue types. These methods include immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, as well as simple morphological staining techniques. Most of these methods include several steps that can be harsh on sections on slides. Several concerns can arise as a result, including samples falling off the slides and identification labels smearing off. Having tissue samples securely positioned on a microscope slide is vital for successful labeling. Star Frost Adhesive Slides from Mercedes Medical perform quite well in these conditions.
One of the most popular methods of tissue processing in our lab is paraffin embedding. Samples are dehydrated and subsequently placed in paraffin for sectioning on a microtome. Paraffin embedding allows for sections as thin as five microns. Sections are removed from the microtome and placed in a warm water bath to allow the sample to lay nicely on a slide. The major concern is wrinkles in the tissue which will interfere with staining experiments. There are several products that can be placed in the water bath to aid in smoothing samples. Several companies also offer specialized microscope slides for better adhesion of tissue on slides. However, we have found that these slides do not provide the best conditions for all tissue types.
The Star Frost slides are best for mouse, rat, and human tissue samples. In particular, we have paraffin sectioned brain as well as peripheral tissue from all three species. These slides allow us to avoid adding anything to the water bath; in addition, the positive charge on the slides ensures the tissue stays on the slide through the harshest of conditions. Other types of slides often do not hold up under the challenges of bromodeoxyuridine labeling (which requires placing slides in HCl to break open the DNA structure).
Fresh-floating and frozen tissue is less often processed in our lab. However, we have found Star Frost slides to be best for both vibratome as well as cryostat sections. Fresh-floating samples are stained in 24-well plates and are subsequently mounted on these slides. The adhesive properties of these slides make it easy for the samples to spread out nicely. These properties are also ideal for frozen tissue sectioned on a cryostat.
The only concern with Mercedes Medical is the time they take to ship their items. On average, our lab goes through 6 to 700 slides per month. We generally keep a good supply of these slides in our lab. On a few occasions, we ran out of slides and found it took two weeks for the new order to arrive. On two occasions, the company also sent the wrong slides, resulting in an additional two week delay. We now ensure we have a good supply of slides and we reorder when we have used half of our stock.
Even though we have to keep track of our supply of the slides, the pricing offered from Mercedes Medical is unmatched. We have gone through several vendors and have found the Star Frost slides to be the most economical. We have often encountered products where the labeled end of a slide will chip or a slide is brittle and easily breaks. The slides from Mercedes Medical are made of very good quality materials. Technical support is good, and they often provide very good promotions and incentives.
Surita Banwait
Research Associate II
Buck Institute for Age Research
Morphology & Imaging Core
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