Epithelia Flashcards
<p>What is a tissue?</p>
<p>A collection of cells specialised to perform a particular function </p>
<p>What are the four major types of tissue?</p>
<p>Epithelial, connective, muscular, nervous</p>
<p>What is a milimetre (mm)?</p>
<p>10^-3 m</p>
<p>What is a micrometer (um)?</p>
<p>10^-6 m</p>
<p>What is a nanometer (nm)?</p>
<p>10^-9 m</p>
<p>What size are most human cells? What size are red blood cells?</p>
<p>Between 10 and 20 micrometers. Red blood cells are 7.2um diameter, so are a useful measure when comparing cell sizes as they are so widespread</p>
<p>What is a biopsy?</p>
<p>Removal of a small piece of tissue from an organ or part of the body for microscopic examination</p>
<p>List 6 different biopsy techniques and an example of tissues they are used with for each</p>
<p>Smear e.g. cervix Curretage e.g. endometrial lining of uterus Needle e.g. kidney Direct incision e.g. skin Endoscopic e.g. intestine Transvascular e.g. heart</p>
<p>What happens in tissue fixation?</p>
<p>-Fresh needle biopsy is wet and bloody
-Tissue is fixed with glutaraldehyde/formaldehyde to cross link the structure, killing bacteria and preventing it from breaking down. No autolysis or putrefecation</p>
<p>Describe how a fixed biopsy is processed in order to be viewed with a microscope</p>
<p>1. Biopsy in water is dehydrated with ethanol, as water is miscible with ethanol
2. Ethanol is cleared to form xylene/toluene
3. The xylene/toluene containing the biopsy is heated to 56C, and forms a wax which the biopsy is embedded in
4. Wax is then sectioned into thin pieces around 15um in diameter, and placed on a microscope slide
5. Rehydration: xylene --> ethanol --> water
6. Stained differentially to see different sections
7. Dehydrated again water-->ethanol-->xylene
8. Mounting (DPX dries under coverslip). Sample now ready for microscopy</p>
<p>What is the haematoxylin and eosin stain? What does each respective dye stain?</p>
<p>Used together.
Haematoxylin stains acidic components of cells puple/blue, e.g. the nucleolus (RNA) and chromatin (DNA).
Eosin stains basic components of cells pink, e.g. cytoplasmic proteins and extracellular fibres</p>
What is the periodic acid-schiff reaction?
PAS stains carbohydrates and glycoproteins magenta.
Advantages of phase-contrast microscopy?
Can be used to view live, unstained samples, however does not work well for thick samples. Works by exploiting the interference when two sets of waves combine. Similar to differential-interference microscopy: this second type is less likely to have artifacts
Advantages of dark field microscopy?
View live, unstained samples. However, tissue needs bright illumination so may become damaged
Advantages of fluorescence microscopy?
Used to view tissues stained with fluorescent molecules. Can introduce artifacts due to chemical fixation and detergent use