Paraformaldehyde vs methanol fixation - which is better and why for immunocytochemistry (Oct/13/2006 )

Hi,

I would like to know why one would use one fixation method over the other.
4% Paraformaldehyde vs 100% methanol.

Does one allow better permeabilization of the cells or better antibody staining?
I typical use one or the other method for immunocytochemistry and would like to understand why.

Thanks

JP

-JP2877-

QUOTE (JP2877 @ Oct 13 2006, 09:50 PM)

Some antibodies require ethanol fixation, others don't. If you want to detect GFP, it is better not to use EtOH because the molecule is very small and it is said you can loose it.

-dnafactory-