[FUN_Mail] rapid immunocytochemistry--reply

[MARY E. MORRISON]

Hi Dorothy,

I do hands-on IHC with my 200-level Intro to Neuroscience I, 300-level Immunology, and 400-level Cell Biology courses.  However, it does take more than one lab session if you're to have any hope of seeing signal above background staining.  I usually end up doing the block and primary antibody myself the night before the lab meets.  Then during the first lab period the students have to wash, dilute and apply secondary antibody/blocking solution and counterstains, wash, and coverslip with aqueous mounting medium.  During all of those washes, we pop across the hall to the microscope room so they can learn how brightfield and fluorescent microscopes work.

Then I store the coverslipped slides in the frige until the following week, when the students get to do the microscopy.  It's fun to have different groups do tissue sections from different developmental stages, rotate around to each others' microscope stations to take pictures, and discuss the changes in cell morphology and location.  One or two Moticams with wifi onboard relieve some of the frustration that can happen when the students try to aim cellphones down an eyepiece.  If you're interested in those protocols, let me know and I'll send them to you.

If you decide that the hands-on version just plain takes too long or is too expensive, I have a publication coming out in JUNE about doing virtual ICC (and virtual Western blotting):  https://www.funjournal.org/new-issue-preview/
It's called "Virtual/Remote Labs for Fluorescent Immunocytochemistry or Western Blotting:  The Next Best Thing to Being There."  It uses professionally-produced videos about these procedures, viewing guides with questions about the videos, actual student data (read:  imperfect!) from previous semesters, and instructions for the current students to develop all of this into a journal-style article, including having to explain the imperfections in the data.  I can send that set of files to you if you're interested in going that route.

Best regards,
Mary

Mary E. Morrison, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Co-Coordinator of the Neuroscience Program
Lycoming College
Heim Building Room 107
1 College Place
Williamsport, PA 17701
morrison at lycoming.edu<mailto:morrison at lycoming.edu>
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