Glycol methacrylate sections of the crystalline Lens

Sections of the crystalline lens are difficult to prepare because of the hardness of the fixed lens. After paraffin procedures the lens shatters and cracks when cut because the reagents and high temperatures used for infiltration further harden it. Plastic has been successfully used as an embedding medium for other difficult tissues. It allows prolonged infiltration times at room temperature, and provides a firm matrix for tissues containing areas of varying density. However, standard procedures for embedding tissue in plastic do not allow for complete infiltration of the crystalline lens. The purpose of this report is to describe a modification of the glycol methacrylate embedding technique which ensures complete infiltration of the lens. The following protocol was found to produce consistently good 1-5 μm sections of lenses from 10-2O-day-old rats.