IUBio

"Silver" nissl stains

Bruce Quinn quinn at is2.nyu.edu
Tue Jul 25 22:00:43 EST 1995


Our lab is interested in developing a good silver-based
Nissl-like stain for human sections, preferable both for
reserach-fixed human brain and for routinely fixed (month)
brain.

Several protocols have been published which yield a jet-black
neuronal stain (much like a Nissl stain) using silver.
These included two by Tolivia (one for month-glutaraldehyde
fixed rat, and one for glycol methacrylate) and one by Merker
(for fairly routine lab animal protocols.)  The point is that
one often does not get _really_ good Nissl staining in routine,
long-fixed older human brain.   We've had modest luck with
the Merker method and will keep twiddling that,
 but there may be other approaches we 
don't know about.  Sometimes, for example, a Bielschowsky stain gives
a tan psuedo-Nissl stain, but this is quite unpredictable, and
it's about the most expensive stain there is and somewhat complex.
We'd like impregnation of all the neurons, with a little extension
into the dendrites for shape and orientation.

Bruce Quinn     quinn @ is2.nyu.edu



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