MODIFICATION OF UNICRYL COMPOSITION FOR RAPID POLYMERIZATION AT LOW-TEMPERATURE WITHOUT ALTERATION OF IMMUNOCYTOCHEMICAL SENSITIVITY

We introduced a slight modification of Unicryl for fast polymerization at low temperature tin the range -20 degrees C to -35 degrees C) with out modification of both physical properties and immunocytochemical yi eld. An UV initiator benzoin ethyl ether (BEE) is added at 0.05% conce ntration in neat resin during infiltration and final polymerization at -35 degrees C. Immunogold labeling of amylase of mouse pancreas embed ded in standard conditions recommended by the manufacturer or with our modification were compared by counting colloidal gold particles over zymogen granules using MACS, a specialized software dedicated to this operation. We noticed that addition of 0.05% BEE in Unicryl reduces th e curing time to 16 h, which can be extended up to a maximum of 48 h a t -35 degrees C without noticeable modification of ultrastructural mor phology, physical properties and immunocytochemical yield. (C) 1998 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.