I primarily do IHC on fixed frozen tissue, but I have found that 
methacarn-fixed and/or Carnoys-fixed tissue works great with some 
antibodies and not at all with others.  So my bets are that it won't 
be a cure-all for eliminating the need for antigen-retrieval. 
Nothing new here.  That's the nature of antibody work, ie you got to 
tweak, tweak, tweak.

Karen in Oregon



>Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 14:07:56 -0400
>From: "Philopena, Jennifer" <jennifer.philopena@canji.com>
>Subject: Methacarn fixative
>To: "'Histonet'" <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
>
>I've read that Methacarn is a methanol-Carnoy's fixative, Carnoy's
>consisting of 6 parts ethanol, 3 parts chloroform, and one part glacial
>acetic acid.  In methacarn does the methanol replace the ethanol?  Does
>anyone have any more information on this fix?  History, recipe,
>advantages/disadvantages, will using it as a fixative eliminate the need for
>antigen retrieval (as I've seen in the literature)?  Thanks.  Jen
>
>
>
>Jennifer M. Philopena
>Scientist 1
>Canji, Inc.
>3525 John Hopkins Court
>San Diego, CA 92121
>jennifer.philopena@canji.com