Knowledge Base

Why even bother to learn about troubleshooting? Wouldn’t it be more interesting to listen to one of the presentations on molecular technology? Possibly. But what would you do if your pathologist brought you a slide from the first batch of today’s H&E’s that looked sub-optimal to review alongside an optimal slide stained the previous day?

Educational Series #7 explores the advantages of IHC double staining, emphasizing its role in enhancing diagnostic precision by identifying multiple targets within the same tissue section. This technique is particularly valuable in modern pathology, as it allows pathologists to analyze proteins and nucleic acids simultaneously, supporting more informed clinical decisions.

Educational Series #6 outlines the critical validation and verification steps required for immunohistochemistry (IHC) procedures, ensuring accuracy, reproducibility, and reliability in diagnostic pathology.

Educational Series #5 explores in situ hybridization, a molecular technique for detecting specific DNA or RNA sequences within tissue sections, aiding in disease diagnosis and prognosis.

Educational Series #4 explores antibody structure and function, highlighting their critical role in immunohistochemical (IHC) techniques for protein localization in tissue sections.

Explore the evolution of immunoperoxidase techniques, from Sternberger’s pioneering method to modern polymer-based approaches, enhancing antigen detection in brightfield microscopy.

Discover how immunofluorescence revolutionized microscopic analysis, using fluorescent-labeled antibodies to detect antigens in tissues—an essential technique for research and disease diagnosis.

Explore the fascinating evolution of immunohistochemistry (IHC), from early histology stains to modern antibody-based techniques that revolutionized disease diagnosis.

A standard H&E staining protocol is provided below.  It applies to either a manual or automated staining procedure.  While it may not be ideal for your laboratory, it can be used as a starting point.  The final color rendition of your H&E stain should be determined by working with your pathologists.  This will consequently make their job easier.  Each day, once the H&E stain set up is completed, you should run down one test slide to confirm that the staining is optimal.  This also will help you to document quality control procedures.

What exactly is a routine “H&E”?  And what makes it routine?  The first question is easy.  “H” stands for ”hematoxylin” and “E” stands for “eosin”.  Both are dyes used to stain tissue sections in histology.  However, the procedure for correctly applying this combination of stains to tissue sections is far from routine.

In the histology world, the mere mention of a “silver stain” may be the cause of panic and uncertainty with regard to the performance of the stain, and the quality of the final resulting microscope slide.  All other special stains, with few exceptions, are relatively easy and straightforward to perform; not so with silver stains.

The staining of microorganisms in histology can be challenging. Filamentous fungi and associated conidia are more easily demonstrated as they are visible under light microscopy when stained with periodic acid Schiff’s (PAS).