Enzyme histochemical investigation of glycol methacrylate embedded chick embryonic tissue

The advantages of the water-soluble glycol methacrylate (GMA) embedding procedure make it highly applicable for use with fragile early embryonic material. Not only can one obtain tissue sections containing excellent histological detail, but numerous enzymes are retained for subsequent histochemical localization. For the purpose of establishing a methodology whereby concomitant histology and histochemistry could be obtainable, various fixatives and fixation times have been evaluated on GMA embedded chick embryonic mesonephros and gonad. It was found that fixing the tissues for 1 h in a solution of 95% ethanol, 5% acetic acid and 10% neutral-buffered formalin resulted in the retention of not only excellent histology but also alkaline and acid phosphatase. Thus, with this procedure, more specific investigations of early embryonic tissue can be performed.