Immunostaining fixative selection - (May/30/2012 )

Just wondering on what basis do you pick which fixative to use on your cells (PFA, Methanol, Ethanol, Acetone)?
Based on types of proteins you're looking for? Structure? localisation?

All of the above. Some fixatives (e.g. MeOH, EtOH) also dehydrate the cells, which then have to be re-hydrated before use. Some (e.g. PFA) only fix for a relatively short time period.

Some antibodies work better with different fixatives due to the nature of the cross-linking of the proteins.