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We routinely use nail polish for sections of tissues that could be
triple, quad or even quint labeled. I suspect all the various points
made so far (and previously on the list) are true, depending on the
circumstances.
But in answer to Sarah's question, we keep our slides just in a
cupboard (no refrigeration) for up to a year with little fading (again
depends a bit on the tissue). For a while, we went to just using a dab
of polish (or wax) on the ends of the cover slips to stop them sliding
around on thick sections or whole mounts where you need plenty of
mounting medium, mostly to save time and mucking around. That bit
worked, but our slides started fading with storage. I suspect the real
value of sealing around the edges of the coverslips is to keep the
oxygen out. In this context, we've noted a lot over the years that
sections of striated muscle, for example, don't keep as well,
presumably because of all the myoglobin still binding oxygen??? (Not
sure about that...). Anyway, we also have tested all sorts of mounting
media and we still come back to 50% glycerol buffered to about pH 8.4,
and we rarely have fading problems with a wide range of fluorophores
and tissue types.
hope that helps
IAN
On Friday, November 17, 2006, at 06:23 AM, Locknar, Sarah A wrote:
> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>
> OK, but why not just use a straight glycerol-based mounting medium?
> Then you wouldn't have any significant evaporation and you don't have
> to
> add the unknown of nail polish. If it works for you, great, but there
> have been lengthy discussions in the past about what component in nail
> polish causes fading- if you leave it out completely, it's not an
> issue.
> Why add a bunch of variables when you don't need to? I should add that
> we occasionally go back to fixed samples over a year old and they look
> similar to the newly prepared ones, just dimmer. I suggest just trying
> a few without nail polish and seeing how long they hold up (or maybe
> someone on this list has already done this and can make a comment)
> Sarah
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On
> Behalf Of Tobias Baskin
> Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 2:39 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Substitute to Nail Polish
>
> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>
> Sarah,
> I'll take a stab at answering you. Note -- I have no stock in
> the nail polish companies! We store our slides for more than a year
> and often go back. The images are not quite as crispy as original but
> are servicable. We use a water gycerol mixture so there is some
> evaporation, and oxygen may diffuse in. But in any case, we absorb
> excess mountant and the nail polish sets up in moments (although we
> always wait 30 to 60 min before going near a microscope) so I can't
> see how it could cause trouble. And the colors are so pretty (just
> kidding about the last).
>
> Anyway, that is why we use nail polish.
>
> Tobias
>
>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal
>> I have yet to figure out why someone would use nail polish on their
>> slides. We mostly use inverted scopes and only have problems if the
>> coverlips are small (15mm or less diameter) and too much mounting
>> medium is used- they tend to be dragged around by the surface
>> tension between the immersion oil and the coverslip. It's easily
>> solved by using a Kimwipe to remove the excess mounting medium.
>> Samples are stored flat in a fridge for several months. The vapor
>> pressure of glycerol is EXTREMELY low so evaporation is not an issue
>> at all. The only thing you might have to worry about is fading, but
>> we rarely look at them after more than a month or two. It seems
>> like adding nail polish with all the solvents, polymers, colors, etc
>> in it is just asking for trouble (see all the postings on this in
>> the archives). Just because "we've always done it" doesn't make it
>> a good idea.
>> Sarah
>>
>>
>> From: Confocal Microscopy List
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Walters,
>> Katherine S
>> Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2006 1:21 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Substitute to Nail Polish
>>
>> Search the CONFOCAL archive at
>> http://listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu/cgi-bin/wa?S1=confocal @font-face {
>> font-family: Tahoma; }
>
> --
> _ ____ __ ____
> / \ / / \ / \ \ Tobias I. Baskin
> / / / / \ \ \ Biology Department
> /_ / __ /__ \ \ \__ 611 N. Pleasant St.
> / / / \ \ \ University of
> Massachusetts
> / / / \ \ \ Amherst, MA, 01003
> / / ___ / \ \__/ \ ____
> http://www.bio.umass.edu/biology/baskin/
> Voice: 413 - 545 - 1533 Fax: 413 - 545 - 3243
>
>
* * * * * * * * * * *
Prof Ian Gibbins
Anatomy & Histology
Flinders University
GPO Box 2100
Adelaide SA 5001
AUSTRALIA
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