low melting point gel?

[Ekaterina PAPUSHEVA-2]

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Dear all,

We are looking for a low melting point gel that could be used for mounting ascidian embryos; they can not stand temperatures above 20 degrees of Celsius. LMP agarose solidifies at 25 degrees, so we can not use it...

Does someone have an idea what could be used?

Best ,
Ekaterina

[Rusty Nicovich]

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Ekaterina,

I've personally never tried it outside of a kiddie chem lab, but sodium
alginate can be used to make a clear gel that sets in the presence of
calcium ions.  It can all be done at low (<= RT) temperature.

Quick search shows they've been used for variable-stiffness cell substrates
and can be made close enough to optically clear for imaging.  Here's a
paper that uses them as a matrix for stem cells with a procedure and named
supplier:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0091662#s2

Good luck!
Rusty


On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 10:16 PM, Ekaterina PAPUSHEVA <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> We are looking for a low melting point gel that could be used for mounting
> ascidian embryos; they can not stand temperatures above 20 degrees of
> Celsius. LMP agarose solidifies at 25 degrees, so we can not use it...
>
> Does someone have an idea what could be used?
>
> Best ,
> Ekaterina
>

[Ekaterina PAPUSHEVA-2]

Dear Rusty, thanks a lot!!!

-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Rusty Nicovich
Sent: Donnerstag, 14. August 2014 01:33
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: low melting point gel?

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Ekaterina,

I've personally never tried it outside of a kiddie chem lab, but sodium alginate can be used to make a clear gel that sets in the presence of calcium ions.  It can all be done at low (<= RT) temperature.

Quick search shows they've been used for variable-stiffness cell substrates and can be made close enough to optically clear for imaging.  Here's a paper that uses them as a matrix for stem cells with a procedure and named
supplier:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0091662#s2

Good luck!
Rusty


On Wed, Aug 13, 2014 at 10:16 PM, Ekaterina PAPUSHEVA < [hidden email]> wrote:

> *****
> To join, leave or search the confocal microscopy listserv, go to:
> http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A0=confocalmicroscopy
> Post images on http://www.imgur.com and include the link in your posting.
> *****
>
> Dear all,
>
> We are looking for a low melting point gel that could be used for
> mounting ascidian embryos; they can not stand temperatures above 20
> degrees of Celsius. LMP agarose solidifies at 25 degrees, so we can not use it...
>
> Does someone have an idea what could be used?
>
> Best ,
> Ekaterina
>

[Stanislav Vitha-2]

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if your embryos can handle low temperature (~5-10C) for a short period of
time, you could use a gel that is liquid when cold and solid when at room
temperature.  I cannot recall the name of the product I have seen a while
ago, it may be similar to the Mebiol gel (except that Mebiol seems to have
the sol-gel transition temperature almost too high for your embryos).

Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University

[Cameron Nowell-3]

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CyGel is what you are thinking of I think. It works well but is rather expensive. The sodium aliginate option will be far cheaper



-----Original Message-----
From: Confocal Microscopy List [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Stanislav Vitha
Sent: Friday, 15 August 2014 12:22 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: low melting point gel?

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if your embryos can handle low temperature (~5-10C) for a short period of time, you could use a gel that is liquid when cold and solid when at room temperature.  I cannot recall the name of the product I have seen a while ago, it may be similar to the Mebiol gel (except that Mebiol seems to have the sol-gel transition temperature almost too high for your embryos).

Stan Vitha
Microscopy and Imaging Center
Texas A&M University