How to send cells for immunfluorescent staining? - (Jan/28/2008 )
Hi all,
I am going to do a cooperation with another group that would like to send me some cells for immunfluorescent staining. Unfortunately they are not able to send a sample of the cells because they a primary culture and difficult to handle.
In return I am not allowed to send an aliquot of my antibody... 
So we wonder whether it is possible to send already fixed cells grown on cover slips.
I've never tried, so does anyone have experience with this?
Thank you,
Chakchel
if ur antiboy works properly after fixation, then u can send fixed cells, i think for couple of days it will not be a major problem.
y cant u send the antibody???
cells grown on slides might be more stable (put em in a plastic slide holder + hey presto) - you can get wells that sit on the slide as the cells grow
when i worked in cytology we used a fixing spray which also contained a protective waxy film - you could look into that rather than just fixing and hoping
good luck
dom
Hi,
thank you very much for your fast answers and suggestions. 
Dom, do you remember the name or brand of the fixing spray you used?
Well, I can't send the antibody because it's a costumized one that I got from another group. I am allowed to use it for whatever I like, but shouldn't give it away...
Greetings,
Chakchel
'fraid not - it was over 15 years ago
you could try looking up spray fixatives for sputum samples (perhaps even blood - if they dont just heat it on)
dom
Thank you very much anyway, Dom!
hey guys,
if u apply wax kind of stuff to fix ur samples, do u think still the epitope is available for the antibody recognition????
if u apply wax kind of stuff to fix ur samples, do u think still the epitope is available for the antibody recognition????
Hmmm, I thought that maybe the cells have to be treated like paraffine embedded tissues...? So you remove the wax after arrival. But I don't know... When I find out more about that fixation spray I'll see...
the fixative used will be more relevant than the presence of wax - xylene or histoclear will completely remove the wax but wont affect the crosslinking caused by formalin (in paraffin embedded tissue)
some thing as thin as a smear or grown cells should be ok with minimal ER (eg triton x or proteinase K)
(hopefully the spray people can tell you more)
dom