Protocol Collection: Perfusing, Sectioning, IHC, Mounting and Coverslipping Mouse Brain Specimens

This protocol collection details the steps for a whole mouse brain specimen to be perfused, sliced, stained with antibodies, DAPI, or both, and made into slides. The intracardiac perfusion fixation includes anesthesia, exsanguination, fixation, brain removal, and post-fixation storage. A sliding microtome is used to slice the whole brain into sections, and the sections are stained, mounted on glass slides, and coverslipped. The result is that anatomical structures in brain regions of interest may be labeled in a way that can be viewed by laser channels on a microscope and imaged for data collection.