What People Are Saying?
Dr. Perez-Zoghbi, Texas Tech University
"We found the Compresstome produces a less apparent damage to the cells of the airways and arterioles as well as to the delicate alveolar parenchyma. Using the Compresstome we are able to obtain more reproducible and successful experiments."
"I've been using the Compresstome VF-200 for a few months and I'm very pleased with the results. We normally prepare brain slices for acute physiological recordings. Considering the relative simplicity of the instrument, the results are impressive - my rate of finding and recording healthy neurons is certainly as good as from slices prepared from more expensive slicers. If price is an issue, then one should seriously consider the VF-200."
Newton Woo, PhD NICHD/NIH
"For the past several months, I have been using the Precisionary Instruments Inc VF-200 to cut 300 um prefrontal cortical slices for electrophysiological recordings. As a result, I have been consistently cutting exceptional quality brain slices and have succeeded in obtaining stable whole-cell patch recordings from numerous neurons. Because I am using transgenic mice that have fluorescent reporters, it is of great importance to achieve maximal cell viability and minimal cell death. When I use the VF-200, I have significantly greater number of surface neurons than those slices cut from a regular Vibratome™. In addition the slice surface is much more even, which allows for better imaging. A small adjustment I have made to this system is melting dental wax between the blade and the holder, which holds the blade in place sufficiently, instead of the conventional method using glue. This alleviates many of the problems associated with removing the glue off the blade holder. I am thoroughly impressed with the VF-200 and would not hesitate recommending this quality product to fellow electrophysiologists. Shown below is a sample image of a 300um PFC slice taken from a 3 week old mouse."
Dr. Yan Gu and Dr. Shaoyu Ge -- Department of Neurobiology, SUNY at Stony Brook.
We received a demo VF-300 microtome unit from Precisionary Instruments Inc and used it for 2 months. Although we have experience using a variety of microtomes from different vendors, we were excited by the VF-300's ability to provide superior slices when combined with the recommended cutting buffer. We obtained surprisingly good electrophysiology results from even slices of relatively old (6 week) animals. The slices were very clean on the surface, and the majority of the cells were alive including those very close to the surface. As they mentioned, the model's design is also suited to cutting small or very soft tissues. We also used it for preparing organotypic tissue cultures, and it worked well. Shown below are 300 micron hippocampal slices from a 6-week old mouse.
CA1
Dentate Gyrus
Dr. Jie Wu, Director of Epilepsy Research, Barrow Neurological Institute.
For months we attempted to obtain mechanically-dissociated neurons with adherent boutons but had no success. It was determined that perhaps our choice of vibratome was impeding the obtainment of our goals. At first, we used a microtome purchased from World Precision Instruments, and after repeated failure we purchased a tissue sectioning system from The Vibratome Company, but again we experienced continual failure. Then, we became familiar with a microtome manufactured by Precision Instruments, Inc (VF-200). Immediately we experienced success in obtaining mechanically-dissociated neurons with adherent pre-synaptic boutons using the microtome from Precisionary Instruments, Inc., and we also noticed cell quality was much higher when compared to neurons obtained using the other vibratomes. Also, cell survival rates were significantly higher when using the VF-200. Currently, we are able to routinely perform (on a daily basis) patch-clamp recordings from mechanically-dissociated neurons with adherent boutons only when using the VF-200, which was previously unobtainable using vibratomes purchased from other leading companies. As a result, we are able to successfully study pre-synaptic receptor function using single, dissociated neurons and help elucidate the mechanisms governing nicotine-induced reward and dependence. A sample of our results obtained using the VF-200 is provided below.
Fig. 1. Mechanical dissociation (with no enzyme treatment) of single neurons from rat VTA. From the VTA region (Aa), single neurons were mechanically isolated (Ab-e, phase contrast pictures) using the nerve-adherent-bouton technique. B shows an isolated VTA neuron following patch-clamp recording (Ba) labeled with lucifer yellow (Bb) and exhibiting a positive reaction to tyrosine hydroxylase (Bc), confirming its dopaminergic (DAergic) phenotype. Using the fluorescent dye FM1-43, pre-synaptic boutons adherent on a mechanically-dissociated VTA DAergic neuron were revealed (C, yellow arrows). Scale bars = 30 ?m in A-C.
Fig. 2. Pharmacological characterization of sIPSCs in mechanically-dissociated VTA DAergic neurons. The solid, horizontal bars in Aa,c,e indicate time periods of drug exposure. Ab,d,f reveal frequency of sIPSCs. B: Summary of pharmacological effects on sIPSCs.
-Dr. Jiang-Hong Ye, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Physiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
"I was lucky to be the first one to try the VF-200 made by Precisionary Instruments Inc. At first, I was skeptical, but the results were astonishing. I have been using a Vibroslice ™ (Campden Instruments, Leicester , UK) for over 13 years, and I would never get so many living cells in one field as with the VF-200. This is also true and especially impressive for tissue of older animals. The oldest rats we used were 31 days of age. The cell quality was very good and the field was very clean. The VF-200 has greatly improved our productivity. Many thanks to Precisionary Instruments Inc. for creating such a wonderful instrument, and for their significant contribution to the neuro-science field."
Compresstome References
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* Ulrike Meyer, Jing Shao, Saurish Chakrabarty, Sebastian F. Brandt, Harald Luksch and Ralf Wessel : Distributed delays stabilize neural feedback systems Biological Cybernetics Volume 99, Number 1 / July, 2008 P.79-87
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* Xiao C, Zhou C, Li K, Ye JH.: Presynaptic GABAA receptors facilitate GABAergic transmission to dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area of young rats. J Physiol. 2007 May 1;580(Pt.3):731-43.
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