Ch. 1 - Stains Flashcards
Masson’s trichrome stain
Differentiates collagen (blue-green) from smooth muscle (red)
*Very young collagen can stain red
Verhoeff-Van Gieson stain
Stains elastic fibers black
Toluidine blue
Stains mast cells metachromatically (dye is blue, granules are purple). Also stains acid mucopolysaccharides.
Leder stain (naphthol ASD chloroacetate esterase)
Mast cell cytoplasm stains red (independent of granules). Also stains myeloid cells.
PAS (Periodic acid-Schiff)
Stains glycogen, neutral mucopolysaccharides (eg basement membrane), and fungi red.
*Diastase-treated glycogen will not stain red.
*Acid mucopolysaccharides (eg hyaluronic acid) will not stain.
Alcian blue
Stains acid mucopolysaccharides (eg dermatan, chondroitin, hyaluronic acid) blue.
*Can be used with or without hyaluronidase
Colloidal iron
Stains acid mucopolysccharides blue.
*Can be used with or without hyaluronidase
Mucicarmine
Stains acid mucopolysaccharides pink to red, as well as the mucinous capsule of Cryptococcus neoformans
Congo red
Stains amyloid brick-red and displays “apple green” birefringence under polarized light.
Thioflavin T
Stains amyloid with yellow to yellow-green appearance under fluorescence microscopy.
Crystal violet
Stains amyloid metachromatically (red-purple)
Prussian blue (Perls stain)
Stains ferric ions a deep blue.
*Stains hemosiderin but not heme
Fontana-Masson
Silver stain that precipitates melanin black.
Von Kossa
Silver stain that stains calcium salts black.
Alizarin red
Directly binds calcium ions staining them orange-red
Oil red O
Sudan black
Osmium tetroxide
All stain lipid and require fresh frozen tissue (lipid is removed during routine processing)
Brown-Hopps
Stains gram-positive organisms blue and gram-negative organisms red.
(modification of the Brown-Brenn technique)
GMS (Grocott’s methenamine silver)
Reacts with fungal wall to turn it grey-black. Also stains Nocardia and Actinomyces.
Acid-fast stains (Ziehl-Neelsen, Fite, Kinyoun)
Stains mycobacteria bright red.
*Fite is preferred for “partially acid-fast” organisms.
Auramine-rhodamine
Stain for mycobacteria, fluoresces reddish-yellow.
Warthin-Starry
Dieterle
Steiner
Silver stain resulting in black spirochetes (lyme, syphilis). Also stains Legionella, Bartonella, and Donovan bodies of granuloma inguinale.
Giemsa
Many uses including highlighting myeloid and mast cell granules purplish blue. Also stains many organisms including Leishmania, Histoplasma, and many bacteria.
What transport media should be used for electron microscopy? Immunofluorescence?
EM: Glutaraldehyde
IF: Michel’s medium (ammoniu sulfate). Saline is OK too.
