Osmium tetroxide is extremely toxic and must be handled with care in a fume hood using the appropriate PPE. Used osmium should be discarded in a labelled plastic container containing ethanol to reduce and neutralise the osmium.
Osmium can precipitate out of solution when in the presence of glutaraldehyde to form small electron dense artefactual deposits. Samples must be washed thoroughly (Step 3) prior to post-fixation (Step 4) to avoid this.
The following Steps 4-29 can be performed with or without the use of a PELCO BioWave® Pro+ Microwave Processing System. A Biowave facilitates infiltration of reagents into tissue and cells, and reduces the processing time.
Post fix tissue in 2% osmium tetroxide in 0.1M cacodylate buffer for 1.5 hours at room temperature, agitating. Tube and well-plate lids must be well-secured during fixation.
The microwave regime described below (Steps 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13) cycles between an on and off step, repeating 3 times. The microwave off step prevents overheating of the sample.
Biowave settings: Repeat cycle 3 times:
2 mins microwave 100W, Vacuum on, at room temperature
2 mins microwave off, Vacuum on, at room temperature
Osmium tetroxide stains and fixes lipids by oxidising unsaturated fatty acid bonds. It penetrates deeper into a sample when it is not reduced in solution by potassium ferrocyanide or potassium ferricyanide.