Can I use coverslips on standard slides as alternative to Labtek chambers?

[Warren McGee]

Hi,

I'm an MD/PhD student at Northwestern. I recently learned about your smFISH technique from a Biosearch Rep at SfN this past week. I'm interested in attempting to use this technique to study neurons and neuron-like cells (SY5Y, NT2). 

My lab currently has the right set-up for doing the imaging. However, we do not use LabTek chambers, but we instead always plate cells on coverslips in standard 6- or 12-well plates, and then mount the coverslips on standard slides for imaging. I would like having to avoid making an investment in LabTek chambers if possible.

Has anyone tried doing using coverslips on standard slides before with this technique? Are there any caveats/pitfalls with this protocol change that I should be careful about?

Thank you,

Warren

[Arjun Raj]

So sorry for the late reply! The answer is yes, you can work with cells grown on coverslips. Just gotta keep track of which side has the cells on it... ;) For what it's worth, we've also successfully FISHed SY5Y cells, although they are a bit backgroundy.