Cryostat Sectioning
Cryostat Sectioning - Related Videos
08:12
Thin Sectioning of Slice Preparations for Immunohistochemistry
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Cited by 7 •
2007
The present method allows reproducible cryostat sectioning of small, difficult-to-manage, tissue pieces, such as biopsies and brain slices. We utilize a simple aluminum freezing stage to facilitate handling of tissue and a standard cryostat to routinely produce 5-10 micron serial sections from 400 micron thick brain slices.
02:37
Frozen Mouse Brain Tissue Sectioning: A Procedure to Obtain Thin Frozen Tissue Sections from Frozen Murine Brain Tissue
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2023
In this video, we demonstrate the sectioning of a frozen mouse brain tumor tissue using a cryostat. The frozen brain tissue sections so obtained are stored at low temperatures until further analysis.
03:30
Snap Freezing of Muscle Tissue for Sectioning: A Protocol to Obtain Ultrathin Sections of Rapidly Frozen Murine Muscle Tissue
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2023
This video describes the procedure for snap freezing muscle tissue and obtaining its thin sections. The technique can help study cancer-related cachexia in colon cancer mouse models.
11:13
Indirect Immunofluorescence on Frozen Sections of Mouse Mammary Gland
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Cited by 19 •
2015
The indirect immunofluorescence protocol described in this article allows the detection and the localization of proteins in the mouse mammary gland. A complete method is given to prepare mammary gland samples, to perform immunohistochemistry, to image the tissue sections by fluorescence microscopy, and to reconstruct images.
01:50
Cross-Sectional Research
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2020
In cross-sectional research, a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time. If they were interested in people's dietary habits, the researcher might directly compare different groups of people by age. Instead of following a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old...
FAQs
The central advantage is that low-temperature handling limits changes that can occur during chemical fixation. As a result, tissue architecture and molecular targets remain available for microscopic analysis in forms that may be altered by fixation. This preservation is particularly important when the experiment depends on detecting native lipids, fluorescent proteins, or other fixation-sensitive features.
Temperature, tissue freezing, and mechanical support jointly influence the sectioning process. The cryostat provides the refrigerated environment, while the specimen holder stabilizes frozen tissue as a sharp blade cuts it. Keeping the specimen frozen allows thin sections to be produced and transferred to slides for subsequent staining or labeling.
Compared with routine paraffin embedding, Cryostat Sectioning is preferred when chemical fixation or embedding could compromise the feature being studied. Its value is therefore not simply speed: it provides an alternative preparation route for preserving lipids, fluorescent proteins, and other molecular targets that may be altered during routine paraffin processing.
After tissue is rapidly frozen, it is mounted on a specimen holder inside the refrigerated cryostat. A sharp blade cuts the tissue at low temperature, and the resulting sections are transferred to slides. The slides can then undergo staining or labeling, linking the physical preparation step to microscopic or molecular analysis.
This method is especially useful when rapid processing is needed or when investigators need to examine targets vulnerable to routine paraffin embedding. In biology, applications include studies of lipids and fluorescent proteins, along with immunohistochemistry and enzyme histochemistry. The approach supports timely observation while retaining the tissue context needed for interpretation.
Sections prepared by Cryostat Sectioning can support more than structural microscopy. They may be used for immunohistochemistry, enzyme histochemistry, and analysis of gene or protein expression within tissue architecture. This combination allows investigators to relate molecular labeling or enzymatic activity to the spatial organization of the specimen, which matters when location is part of the biological question.