Cresyl Violet Solution (1%)

Protocol:

Working Solutions: This stain may be diluted up to 1:10 with deionized water just before use.

1. Deparaffinize and hydrate sections to distilled water.

2. Apply Cresyl Violet Acetate solution (or your Cresyl Violet Acetate working solution) to tissue for 3-5 minutes

3. Quickly rinse in 1 change of distilled water.

4. Dehydrate rapidly in absolute alcohol. Please note that alcohol may remove the stain from tissue over time.

5. Clear in 3 or 4 changes of xylene/xylene substitute and

6. Mount with synthetic resin.

#Protocol 1: Cresyl Violet staining of frozen brain sections

• 10µm fresh frozen sections were cut on a cryostat then fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 10 minutes
• Sections were washed 3 times in dH₂O then incubated for 8 minutes in acidified cresyl violet solution (5 drops of 10% acetic acid in 30ml of cresyl violet solution)
• Sections were then differentiated in 96% alcohol briefly (acidified with 3 drops 10% acetic acid / 50ml alcohol) before being then washed in 100% alcohol and allowed to air dry
• Once dry, slides were incubated in xylene 3 times for 5 minutes and then mounted using DPX.

Note: If using paraffin embedded sections, deparaffinise the sections before hydrating into distilled water and then proceed with staining in Cresyl Violet solution