CHAPTER 16 PRINCIPLES OF STAINING Flashcards
is the process whereby tissue components are made visible in microscopic sections by direct interaction with a dye or staining solution.
Staining
Certain parts of cells and tissues that are acidic in character (e.g.?) have greater affinity for basic dyes, while basic constituents (e.g.?) take more of the acid stains.
nucleus
cytoplasm
Many dyes, however, require the use of a [?] - a chemical compound that reacts with the stain to form an insoluble, colored precipitate on the tissue and make the staining reaction possible.
mordant
The great majority of routine histology is done with [?], because it is quick, cheap and informative.
hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining
It involves the use of two contrasting stains, e.g., hematoxylin which stains the nuclear detail, and eosin which brings out the cytoplasmic detail of the cell and the tissue’s architecture.
hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining
is poorly permeable to most staining solutions and should therefore be removed from the section prior to staining.
Paraffin wax
This is usually done by immersing the paraffin section in a solvent (e.g. xylene) two times, at [?] duration each, for sections up to [?] thick.
1-2 minutes
10 micron
is not miscible with aqueous solutions and low graded alcohol, and should therefore be subsequently removed with absolute alcohol, followed by descending grades of alcohol to prevent damage and detachment of sections.
Xylene
The alcohol is then finally replaced with water before actual staining of section is performed. Such procedure is the exact reverse of impregnation and may be summed up by the phrase
“Sections to Water”.
If an alcoholic stain is to be used, there is no more need to replace the alcohol with water. After deparaffinization with xylene, the section is transferred to decreasing grades of alcohol, and in such instances, the term “?” is used, and the staining procedure is subsequently done unless the tissue has been fixed in mercuric chloride solution, in which case, the section is taken “to water”.
Sections to Alcohol
Sections must be left in the oven for a minimum of [?] before they are finally stained to avoid such problems.
30 minutes
is the process whereby the tissue constituents and general relationship between cell and tissue are demonstrated in sections by direct interaction with a dye or staining solution, producing coloration of the active tissue component.
Histological staining
Micro-anatomic stains, bacterial stains and specific tissue stains (e.g. muscles, connective tissue and neurologic stains) fall into this category.
Histological staining
is the process of giving color to the sections by using aqueous or alcoholic dye solutions.
Direct staining
Only one dye is used, which is washed away after 30–60 seconds, prior to drying and examination.
Direct staining
[?] is a classic example of a simple stain. This stain will color all cells blue, making them stand out against the bright background of the light microscope.
Methylene blue
Indirect staining is the process whereby the action of the dye is intensified by adding another agent or a
MORDANT
serves as a link or bridge between the tissue and the dye, to make the staining reaction possible.
MORDANT
combines with a dye to form a colored “lake”, which in turn combines with the tissue to form a “tissue- mordant-dye-complex” that is rendered insoluble in ordinary aqueous and alcoholic solvents.
MORDANT
This allows subsequent counterstaining and dehydration to be carried out easily.
MORDANT
It is an integral part of the staining reaction itself, without which no staining could possibly occur
MORDANT
may be applied to the tissue before the stain, or it may be included as part of the staining technique, or it may be added to the dye solution itself.
MORDANT
Examples of mordants are
potassium alum with hematoxylin in Ehrlich’s hematoxylin, and iron in Weigert’s hematoxylin.
is not essential to the chemical union of the tissue and the dye.
ACCENTUATOR
It does not participate in the staining reaction, but merely accelerates the reaction.
ACCENTUATOR
Examples of ACCENTUATOR are
potassium hydroxide in Loeffler’s methylene blue and phenol in carbol thionine and carbol fuchsin.
is the process whereby tissue elements are stained in a
definite sequence, and the staining solution is applied for specific periods of time or until the desired intensity of coloring of the different tissue elements is attained.
PROGRESSIVE STAINING
Once the dye is taken up by the tissue, it is not washed or decolorized. The differentiation or distinction of tissue detail relies solely on the selective affinity of the dye for different cellular elements.
PROGRESSIVE STAINING
With this technique, the tissue is first overstained to obliterate the cellular details, and the excess stain is removed or decolorized from unwanted parts of the tissue, until the desired intensity of color is obtained.
REGRESSIVE STAINING
is the most common method utilized for microanatomical studies of tissues, using the regressive staining which consists of overstaining the nuclei, followed by removal of superfluous and excessive color of the tissue constituent by acid differentiation.
Routine Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining
is the selective removal of excess stain from the tissue during regressive staining in order that a specific substance may be stained distinctly from the surrounding tissues.
DIFFERENTIATION (DECOLORIZATION)