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H&E Staining Overview: A Guide to Best Practices
For routine diagnosis, the use of Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) is by far preferred for viewing cellular and tissue structure detail by pathologists. We continue to use this simple and essential stain today, which has remained unchanged for well over a century.
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H&E Basics Part 4: Troubleshooting H&E
Though the H&E stain is a relatively simple stain to perform, there are a variety of artifacts that can interfere with a good stain. Artifacts can be attributed to a variety of causes.
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Top Considerations When Buying a Clinical Microscope
If you are considering purchasing a new clinical microscope, you will think about many options, vendors, and microscope models. Here are some top tips to help you come to the best buying decision.
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Techniques to Minimize Articular Cartilage Folding
After a joint has been decalcified, the loss of proteoglycans in the articular cartilage causes it to fold and ripple during the staining process. When this occurs, it makes it impossible to perform histo-morphometry or measurements of the cartilage.
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Special Stains – Which One, Why and How? Part III: Microorganisms – Bacteria and Fungi
Microorganisms are living organisms which include bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses. Bacteria, fungi and protozoa can be identified and classified with histochemical procedures and viruses are generally identified with immunohistochemical procedures.
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Special Stains – Which One, How and Why? Part II: Connective Tissue
"Special stain" is a term used to refer to many alternative staining techniques that are used when the traditional H&E does not provide all the information the pathologist or researcher needs from a tissue slide.
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Special Stains – Which One, Why and How? Part I: Mucins and Glycogen
“Special stain” is a term used to refer to many alternative staining techniques that are used when the traditional H&E does not provide all the information the pathologist or researcher needs from a tissue slide.
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Muscular Dystrophy
Muscular Dystrophy is a genetic disease characterized by progressive weakness and degeneration of the skeletal muscles which controls movement. The muscles of the heart and some other involuntary muscles are also affected in some forms of muscular dystrophy.
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Process of Fixation and the Nature of Fixatives
Fixation is a critical step in the preparation of histological sections. If it is not carried out under optimal conditions or if fixation is delayed, a tissue specimen can be irreversibly damaged.
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How is epitope retrieval best achieved?
The accurate and repeatable detection of a specific protein is central to successful IHC staining. Primary antibodies bind to a small region or multiple regions (epitope/s) of these very complex proteins.