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Immunostaining fixative selection - (May/30/2012 )

Just wondering on what basis do you pick which fixative to use on your cells (PFA, Methanol, Ethanol, Acetone)?
Based on types of proteins you're looking for? Structure? localisation?

-science noob-

All of the above. Some fixatives (e.g. MeOH, EtOH) also dehydrate the cells, which then have to be re-hydrated before use. Some (e.g. PFA) only fix for a relatively short time period.

Some antibodies work better with different fixatives due to the nature of the cross-linking of the proteins.

-bob1-