Has anybody used polyformaldehyde as a fixative? - (Aug/27/2006 )
Hello everyone, I was told to make a 4% polyformaldehyde solution as a fixative, but I don't konw if it will work or not. Has anyone ever used polyformaldehyde solution as a fixative? Thanks a lot.
Are you using paraformaldehyde to fix tissue?
We use 4% paraformaldehyde to fix rat or mouse brain.
i think i am using paraformaldehyde which is the same thing as polyformaldehyde.
We use paraformaldehyde to fix our cells (HUVEC).
i didnt know paraformaldehyde being called as polyformaldehyde.
i also use 4%PFA to fix mouse tissue. it's good
"Polyformaldehyde" usually refers to a lubricant made by Dupont. I suspect you mean "paraformaldehyde", which is the name given to various oligomeric forms (most notably the cyclic trimer) of the self-condensation product of formaldehyde. Chemically, the two things are the same, though the Dupont stuff is presumably a higher MW polymer.
In order to use it, you need to crack it (ie. regenerate the monomer from the trimer). There are a bunch of ways to do this, depending on your end application, but for cell fixing, the favorite method seems to be heating paraformaldehyde in water (I use 60 C), adding a little NaOH (until it goes clear), cooling, filtering, and re-buffering.
Good luck.
In order to use it, you need to crack it (ie. regenerate the monomer from the trimer). There are a bunch of ways to do this, depending on your end application, but for cell fixing, the favorite method seems to be heating paraformaldehyde in water (I use 60 C), adding a little NaOH (until it goes clear), cooling, filtering, and re-buffering.
Good luck.
I use 4% para to fix brain tissue and 4% para +4% sucrose 10-15min at RT to fix my cell before I start Immunocytochemistry, Works very well.