-70 or -80 seems a little extreme to me, that's why I always just leave them in a normal freezer (-20). I think the main point of doing this from what I understand is so that the antigens stay "viable". I know over time they can degrade and so your stain won't work with some antibodies. The weirdest part to me has always been that you don't have to store the blocks this way. So I think that was your question, if the blocks aren't stored in a freezer why store the slides? Won't the antigens in the blocks start to degrade as well? This is a question I would like to know the answer to as well...
Sarah Goebel, B.A., HT (ASCP) Histotechnician XBiotech USA Inc. 8201 East Riverside Dr. Bldg 4 Suite 100 Austin, Texas 78744 (512)386-2907 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [Histonet] unstained paraffin tissue slides storage--why cold? From: Emily Sours <talulahg...@gmail.com> Date: Thu, November 04, 2010 7:07 am To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Can I ask what the point of storing paraffin sections in freezing cold storage? They are wax sections, which never see any type of cold, so I don't understand the point of this. I do understand putting them at 4 degrees to prevent mold, but -80 seems excessive. We have kept our slides at room temperature for years and years, but these slides do not have an albumin coat (which I can see getting moldy), just a chemical coating. Fixing for paraffin and paraffin infiltration seems to keep antigens safe without refrigeration because it's so intense, but that's just conjecture on my part. Emily -- Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read. --Groucho Marx _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet