UNICRYL™ is a unique acrylic resin which has been developed for universal use in both light and electron microscopy.
UNICRYL™ provides optimum sectioning, labelling and staining qualities for studies in animal, plant and microbiological tissues.
The advantages of UNICRYL™ for staining and labelling lie in both its preservation of tissue structures and its sectioning characteristics such that proteins, nucleic acids and macromolecules are revealed at the surface of the sections for subsequent incubations. The resin preserves these structures without chemically interacting or cross linking with them. UNICRYL™ is largely hydrophilic, allowing good access to polar (aqueous) solutions and exhibiting a low background staining or labelling from hydrophobic materials. It also minimizes the denaturation of proteins, allowing true antigenic properties to be maintained. Normal counterstaining properties for both TEM and LM studies are excellent due to the hydrophilicity of the resin and its homogeneous structure. There have been numerous literature references using UNICRYL™ resin.
The resin is provided as a single solution and is used in a similar way to other acrylic resins for embedding tissues. Because it is a single solution no mixing is required. The resin has a long shelf life if stored in the cold. It is miscible with alcohols and has a low viscosity even down to -50 °C. UNICRYL™ can be polymerized by heat or by UV irradiation at lower temperatures. Tissue pieces are processed in single capped 1ml Eppendorf tubes, BEEM capsules or gelatin capsules by simple pipetting of solutions into the tubes. Cells in culture may be processed in situ in vials enclosed during polymerization.
Keep in mind that this resin was originally developed for use at low temperature using a UV cure. SPI offers an easy-to-use low temperature UV curing chamber for this type of embedding.
Numerous scientific papers have been published by researchers using Unicryl resin in their work.
We are addressing now the cured block, something that to most people is about as inert of a material as one will find. But the standard practice in many laboratories is to use a small jeweler's (or even a small hack) saw to cut the block down to the right size, sometimes even to shape it. We want to address the dust that is generated and how its exposure can and should be minimized.
UNICRYL™ Resin is considered a flammable liquid and therefore is hazardous from the standpoint of shipping. In order to help our customers, especially those not in the USA, enjoy lower shipping costs, we also offer the basic kit in the form. While the fob price is obviously higher,the savings in shipping costs more than enough compensate for the higher fob price.
