Techniques in tissue metabolism. 4. Apparatus for maintaining and rapidly transferring tissue sections

Abstract

A tissue-holding apparatus is described by means of which thin slices of tissue can, after incubation in a suitable saline, be rapidly transferred to a fixing agent or to another saline. While in the holder the tissue may be subjected to brief exposure, of from 1 second upwards, to other agents such as radioactive phosphate or electrical pulses, and can then be removed and fixed within 0.2 - 0.3 second of such exposure. With cerebral tissues it has been shown that the normal levels of crea-tine phosphate and the process of glycolysis are not affected by the holder. The use of the holder in following the accumulation of neutral red by cerebral slices, and in the incorporation of radioactive phosphate into liver adenosine triphosphate within 10 seconds is described.