Following on from the discussion on cleaning cover-slips a while ago, any tissue digest such as acids/bleach should help remove cellular material from the dishes, followed by standard detergent then alcohol washes. However sterilization is a bit of a pain, as autoclaving will deform the plastic - due to the plastic they are safe only up to 50oC. Probably uV is the only way to go, unless you happen to have a massive gamma irradiation facility nearby [which actually we do, at Harwell]. Back at UCL we did try fabricating our own Mattek dishes from plastic Petri dishes but our workshop had trouble cutting the hole without splintering the plastic a little - I expect Mattek dishes holes are laser cut [which is fast and works brilliantly and you could even have a unique number/ident/logo etched into the plastic as well]. It really wasn't cost effective to make them in-house, particularly as our workshop starting charging an hourly rate.
Around 25 years ago we used to use glass 'tubes' around a few centimeters tall, machine cut from a glass tube ~3.5cm diameter [that took a standard plastic or glass Petri dish lid, but I think we machined our own re-usable lid]. The bottom rim was ground flat and we [well our workshop chaps] glued a very thin plastic membrane to the bottom - probably using a silicon type adhesive as Mattek do, but I'd have to check that. This membrane was only a few um thick from memory, probably 20 to 50um - it was ICI Melinex and available in a range of Thicknesses]. The wells were then sterilized within one of our massive walk in gamma irradiation facilities [originally constructed to irradiate large animals, e.g. goats, as you did back in the 1950/60s]. The cells grew well on this membrane and were imaged under our MRC 500 and latterly 1024 confocal [c1980/90s]. After use the membrane was taken off, the glass washed in a glass washing machine, and a new membrane fitted and the culture vessels then irradiated on-mass.
All very well and good, but now I use pre-sterilized Mattek dishes instead as being only £1 each it's a lot less trouble, particularly now I don't have free access to the gamma cells or an in-house workshop. I do regularly re-use Mattek* dishes, but also to produce microscopy test samples using things like fluorescent spheres, salt crystals doped with fluorescence, micro-fossils and the like - never to re-culture cells. We tend to club together with other groups to buy many hundreds of Mattek Petri dishes at a time and save on postage costs [quite high to the UK]. At most I only use a few a day so it's not many pennies in the scheme of things [even when using the rather more expensive Mattek multiwell plates].
Regards
Keith
There are other suppliers of similar 'confocal dishes', e.g. PAA Labs:
http://www.paa.com/products/plastic_labware/cell_culture/confocaldishescoverglass_bott.html
But they are of comparable price.
For more cell culture/microscope imaging products links see our web site:
http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/external-website-links
and see: Microscopy Live Cell Imaging and Anti-Fadent Mountants
If you know of any other similar products I'll be pleased to add them
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr Keith J. Morris,
Molecular Cytogenetics and Microscopy Core,
Laboratory 00/069 and 00/070,
The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics,
Roosevelt Drive,
Oxford OX3 7BN,
United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 (0)1865 287568
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web-pages: http://www.well.ox.ac.uk/molecular-cytogenetics-and-microscopy
-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Cameron Nowell
Sent: 05 November 2009 21:35
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mattek dishes
Hi List,
We use Bellco Sykes-Moore chambers.
http://www.bellcoglass.com/products.aspx?category_id=11&sub_id=109&sub_id_2=361
No commercial interest and thanks to Stephen Cody for getting these in.
Cheers
Cam
Cameron J. Nowell
Microscopy Manager
Centre for Advanced Microscopy
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
PO Box 2008
Royal Melbourne Hospital
Victoria, 3050
AUSTRALIA
Office: +61 3 9341 3155
Mobile: +61422882700
Fax: +61 3 9341 3104
Facility Website
-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Brideau
Sent: Friday, 6 November 2009 8:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Mattek dishes
I agree. Trying to make these things is time consuming.
Craig
On Thu, Nov 5, 2009 at 2:26 PM, Kristi DeCourcy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Actually, if the user is that...frugal, we used to make our own dishes. All
> it takes is petris, a small drill press, glass coverslips, and glue. The
> only thing to be careful about it that you smooth down the drilled edges of
> the petri, so that the coverslip is flat against the dish bottom when you
> glue it.
> And I still remember my joyous reaction to the discovery that I could buy
> the same thing from Mattek!
> Kristi
>
> Has anyone ever reused Mattek dishes? I have a user who is trying to save
> some money and is cleaning their dishes with a detergent, rinsing and
> exposing to UV light. The cells look "funny' to me in that I can't seem to
> get a crisp image. Does anyone have any experience with reusing dishes?
>
>
>
> Thx!
>
>
>
> Mary
>
> --
>
> ************************************
>
> Kristi R. DeCourcy, Ph.D.
> Research Associate/Laboratory Manager
> Fralin Life Science Institute
> Virginia Tech
> West Campus Drive
> Blacksburg, VA 24061
> Phone: (540) 231-7959
> Cell (540) 392-9814
> Fax: (540) 231-7126
> http://www.biotech.vt.edu
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