Hi

You might try a freshly made solution of sodium boron hydride 0.5 - 1.0%
or perhaps hydrogen peroxide 1-2% in the former case use in the hood as
H2 is the gas is formed and in neither case seal the containers as
pressure can build up.  About 30 mins to 1 hr.  It shouldn't damage the
antigenic sites as I use it to decrease autofluorescence in FISH &
antibody labeled specimens.

Russ


Russell N. Spear
Sr. Research Specialist
Dept. of Plant Pathology
Univ. of Wisconsin
1630 Linden Dr.
Madison WI 53706

voice 608.263.2093
fax     608.263.2626
>>> "JOEL B. SHEFFIELD" <[log in to unmask]> 07/31/09 8:57 AM >>>
The red certainly seems to be from Eosin.  We use old H&E slides to
illustrate fluorescence of goblet cells in intestinal sections.  I'm not
sure what will take it out --Eosin is soluble in alcohol, but I'm not
sure
how it binds to the cellular components.  You might try other organic
solvents.

Joel


On Thu, Jul 30, 2009 at 5:26 PM, Holly Aaron <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

>  Dear List - Not strictly a confocal question, but...
>
> Does anyone have a protocol for releasing old histology stains from
parafin
> embedded tissue sections? I have users who are having a hard time
getting
> around a lot of red background in their samples. They have already
removed
> the parafin and have been able to release some of the stains using
high or
> low pH baths, but still see a significant signal in the red channel.
They
> want to do multi-color antibody labeling on the sections now. They can
do it
> avoiding red, using green and blue and maybe a far-red (we have not
> characterized the spectra yet), but if there is a way to release these
old
> stains, it would be very useful for them. They think the only stains
on the
> tissue are H&E (which they think is not the problem as they have done
this
> before, although eosin is brightly red?) and PAS-aurantia.
>
> Thanks for any tips or ideas!
>
>  --
>
> Holly L Aaron
>
> Molecular Imaging Center
>
> Cancer Research Laboratory
>
> 251 Life Sciences Addition #2751
>
> Berkeley, CA  94720-2751
>
> 510.642.2901
>
> 510.642.5741 FAX
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> http://imaging.berkeley.edu
>
>
>



-- 


Joel B. Sheffield, Ph.D
Department of Biology
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA 19122
Voice: 215 204 8839
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL:  http://astro.temple.edu/~jbs