Ka. Holtham et Nb. Slepecky, A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR OBTAINING 0.5-MU-M SECTIONS OF SMALL TISSUE SPECIMENS EMBEDDED IN PEG, The Journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry, 43(6), 1995, pp. 637-643
We describe a new method for embedding small specimens in polyethylene
glycol (PEG) 4000. This method preserves cell morphology and provides
sensitive immunocytochemical labeling with excellent subcellular reso
lution. Small tissues are embedded in agarose so that they can be grou
ped together and oriented for sectioning before infiltration with PEG
4000, a water-soluble polymer. Fixation, embedding, sectioning, and st
aining can be performed in 1 day. Results from immunocytochemical stud
ies localizing actin and tubulin on 0.5-mu m sections of PEG-embedded
specimens are compared with those obtained on semi-thin sections of ar
aldite-embedded specimens and demonstrate the ease, speed, and increas
ed sensitivity of this embedding method.