Cryostat Microtome
Cryostat Microtome - Related Videos
06:06
A Simple Dewar/Cryostat for Thermally Equilibrating Samples at Known Temperatures for Accurate Cryogenic Luminescence Measurements
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2016
A simple liquid nitrogen Dewar/cryostat apparatus comprised of a small fused silica optical Dewar, a thermocouple, and a charge-coupled device (CCD) spectrograph are described. The experiments for which this Dewar/cryostat is designed require fast sample loading, freezing, and alignment, accurate and stable sample temperatures, and small size/portability.
08:12
Brain Banking: Making the Most of your Research Specimens
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Cited by 21 •
2009
Brain banking and systematic sampling of biological material provides the basis for unbiased stereology and maximizes the potential data obtained from each specimen.
06:16
Cryosectioning Method for Microdissection of Murine Colonic Mucosa
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Cited by 5 •
2015
Here we describe a simple method for the isolation of spatially distinct murine colonic epithelial surface cells from the underlying crypt-base cells.
06:47
Assessing Primary Neurogenesis in Xenopus Embryos Using Immunostaining
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Cited by 2 •
2016
This article presents a convenient and rapid method for visualizing different neuronal cell populations in the central nervous system of Xenopus embryos using immunofluorescent staining on sections.
03:51
Murine Sciatic Nerve Model of Perineural Invasion or PNI: Extraction and Processing of Sciatic Nerve to Understand Invasion by Cancer Cells
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2025
In this video, we describe the procedure to establish a murine model of perineural invasion by injecting cancer cells into the sciatic nerve. The model can help gain an understanding of the magnitude of nerve invasion for subsequent assessment of anti-cancer drugs.
FAQs
Temperature control keeps the specimen frozen while sectioning takes place, allowing the tissue to retain its anatomical organization during cutting. This matters in nervous-system studies because preserved architecture supports examination of brain and spinal cord structures, cellular populations, and disease-related changes rather than introducing distortion that could complicate microscopic interpretation.
Advancing the blade across the positioned specimen produces sections with consistent thickness, and collecting them sequentially creates a serial set. Serial sections let investigators examine neighboring levels of nervous-system tissue and map structures or cellular populations across the specimen. Consistency is therefore important when comparing microscopic features from one section to the next.
By minimizing tissue distortion and reducing the need for lengthy fixation and processing, cryostat sectioning can preserve a more direct relationship between tissue organization and later microscopic observations. This is especially useful when researchers want to connect anatomical patterns with molecular or functional studies, because the sectioning step introduces fewer processing-related obstacles to that comparison.
The specimen is frozen, placed inside the instrument’s temperature-controlled chamber, and positioned for cutting. A blade then advances across the tissue to generate thin sections, which can be collected as serial sections for microscopic examination. This workflow provides the organized material needed for subsequent histological, immunohistochemical, and anatomical analyses.
The temperature-controlled chamber, specimen position, and advancing blade are the central elements described for section production. The chamber maintains frozen conditions, positioning presents the tissue correctly to the blade, and blade advancement creates thin, consistently thick sections. Together, these components support orderly microscopic analysis of nervous-system tissue.
In neuroscience, cryostat sections support brain and spinal cord histology, immunohistochemistry, and mapping of neural structures and cellular populations. They also help investigators examine disease-related changes. Because the sections preserve anatomical organization while remaining suitable for microscopic examination, the method can connect visible tissue architecture with molecular and functional studies.