HistoBest's protocols - background

~ Every tissue specimen used for pre-made or custom microslides and tissue arrays (but not for teaching slides) was formalin fixed for 24±0.5 hrs, at 18-20ºC. The dehydration and all subsequent steps are fully standardized and performed manually. No shortcuts are allowed.

~ Stability is ensured by removing the bound water and all traces of ethanol. Unlike traditional methods, HistoBest's protocols for embedding result in minimal shrinking of the tissues (5-10%, (important for morphometric analyses);

~ Only high quality, DMSO-free paraffins are used throughout;

~ Cross-linking of tissue proteins is not only minimzed, but also virtually identical for all archived biopsies. Generally, the end user looking for immunostaining rarely needs to employ antigen retrieval procedures (decrosslinking in DW overnight ussually suffice);

~ DNA is remarkably well preserved;

~ Unless otherwise requested, sectioning is performed at 4-5 µm. Since our technology has eliminated the need for the adhesive tape technique during sectioning, all HistoBest's arrays are shipped ready for use;

~ All HistoBest’s slides are individually checked for quality. High density tissue arrays are scanned and accompanied by a hard copy of the image (electronic files available upon request) as well as by an explanatory legend;