Con A coverslips

Requirements:   Acid washed coverslips stored in 100% ethanol.1

  • ConA 0.5 mg/mL. 
  • Large petri dishes to store the coverslips. 
  • Use tall petri dishes to culture cells: Fisher S24557 or Go Science Crazy 1500710   

  Procedure 1:

  • Flame the acid-washed coverslips and cool for 10 sec.    
    (Make 9-14 coverslips at a time to save time.)
  • Place the coverslips on top of the large petri dish.     
  • Thaw the conA from the freezer and dilute to 0.5 mg/mL 
  • apply around 400uL to the first two coverslips 
  • Wait for 10 sec. 
  • Tilt the coverslips and suck out the excess ConA 
  • Repeat the same for all the coverslips. 
  • Cover the petri dish with another lid of petri dish and allow a small opening to dry.
  • If possible,use a vacuum pump  to dry it faster.   

The process usually takes 15 minutes and drying takes half an hour. 

Procedure 2:

  • Put sterilized coverslips in holder, every other slot
  • Dunk in ethanol, let dry overnight
  • Dunk in 0.5 mg/mL concanavalin A solution, let dry
  • Put in individual 15 mm x 35 mm sterile Petri dishes.

Storage:

Cover with the lid. 10 min before needed, UV sterilize them.

  • Alternatively, UV sterilize all of them after drying and open the dishes only in aseptic conditions or inside hood.  
  1. In a petri dish, place the coverslips on top of a clean kimwipe with the conA surface facing up.    ↩︎