Effects of microwave irradiation and chemical fixation on the localization of perisinusoidal cells in rat liver by gold impregnation

Microwave-Assisted Tissue Preparation for Rapid Fixation, Decalcification, Antigen Retrieval, Cryosectioning, and Immunostaining

Microwave irradiation of tissue during fixation and subsequent histochemical staining procedures significantly reduces the time required for incubation in fixation and staining solutions. Minimizing the incubation time in fixative reduces disruption of tissue morphology, and reducing the incubation time in staining solution or antibody solution decreases nonspecific labeling. Reduction of incubation time in staining solution also decreases the level of background noise. Microwave-assisted tissue preparation is applicable for tissue fixation, decalcification of bone tissues, treatment of adipose tissues, antigen retrieval, and other special staining of tissues. Microwave-assisted tissue fixation and staining are useful tools for histological analyses. This review describes the protocols using microwave irradiation for several essential procedures in histochemical studies, and these techniques are applicable to other protocols for tissue fixation and immunostaining in the field of cell biology.

Rapid fixation and immunofluorescent staining of cultured cells using microwave irradiation

Microwave irradiation during tissue fixation and immunostaining reduces the sample preparation time. Microwave irradiation also facilitates the penetration of fixatives and antibody solutions into the tissues, resulting in efficient fixation and reduction of non-specific antibody binding, respectively. Experimental procedures involving immunofluorescence microscopy are time-consuming as this method relies on antigenantibody reaction. Here, we utilized a technique involving exposure of cultured cells and tissues to intermittent microwave irradiation and immunostaining of fixed samples. Intermittent microwave irradiation during fixation reduces the required incubation time with blocking and antibody solutions, and results in good preservation of the immunoreactivity of fixed cells. Microwave irradiation also reduces the non-specific binding of fluorescein-labeled antibodies. These microwave-assisted rapid immunofluorescence techniques are useful for analysis of molecular compositions in cultured cell systems.

Microwave irradiation for fixation and immunostaining of endothelial cells in situ

Using microwave irradiation during tissue fixation and immunostaining reduces sample preparation time and facilitates penetration of fixatives and antibody solutions into the tissues. This results in improved fixation and reduction of non-specific binding of antibodies, respectively. Experimental analyses of endothelial cells in blood vessels in situ have been limited because of the difficulty of tissue preparation. We report here a technique using intermittent microwave irradiation for blood vessel fixation and immunostaining the fixed tissues. Intermittent microwave irradiation during fixation reduced blood vessel contraction and resulted in well preserved morphology of blood vessels, especially the endothelial cells. Microwave irradiation also reduced non-specific binding of fluorescein-labeled antibodies. These microwave irradiation-assisted techniques are useful for analysis of endothelial cell function and for pathological study of blood vessels in situ.

Microwave-assisted antigen retrieval and incubation with cox-2 antibody of archival paraffin-embedded human oligodendroglioma and astrocytomas

Immunohistochemistry is an important tool that is often used for the diagnosis of pathologies; however, the length of time required to process the tissue is relatively long. Furthermore, the quality and sensitivity of immunohistochemical staining is affected by formalin fixation which results in variable loss of antigenicity, known as masking effect. Here we assess the effect of microwave irradiation on the incubation time required to obtain high quality immunohistochemical staining for cox-2 using archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded human oligodendrogliomas and astrocytomas. The results show that intermittent microwave irradiation during the incubation with the primary antibody reduced the time requirement to 5 min while the staining quality was indistinguishable from 1 or 24 h long incubations. Thus, the use of this procedure results in a significant saving of time which is important for a timely diagnosis of pathological conditions that await treatment.

A simple and rapid microwave-assisted hematoxylin and eosin staining method using 1,1,1 trichloroethane as a dewaxing and a clearing agent

The use and practicability of microwave-assisted staining procedures in routine histopathology has been well established for more than 17 years. In the study reported here, we aimed to examine an alternative approach that would shorten the duration of dewaxing and clearing steps of hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining of paraffin sections by using a microwave oven. Although xylene is one of the most popular dewaxing and clearing agents, its flammability restricts its use in a microwave oven; thus we preferred 1,1,1 trichloroethane, which is not flammable, as the dewaxing and clearing agent in the present study. In Group I and Group II (control groups), intestine was processed with xylene and 1,1,1 trichloroethane, respectively. The sections were then stained with H & E according to the conventional staining protocol at room temperature and subdivided into two groups according to the duration of dewaxing and clearing in xylene. In Groups III and IV (experimental groups) similar tissues were processed with xylene and 1,1,1 trichloroethane, respectively; however, sections from these groups were divided into four subgroups to study the period required for dewaxing and clearing in 1,1,1 trichloroethane, then stained with H & E in the microwave oven at 360 W for 30 sec. Our conventional H & E staining procedure, which includes dewaxing, staining and clearing of sections, requires approximately 90 min, while our method using 1,1,1 trichloroethane and microwave heating required only 2 min. Our alternative method for H & E staining not only reduced the procedure time significantly, but also yielded staining quality equal or superior to those stained the conventional way. Our results suggest that 1,1,1 trichloroethane can be used effectively and safely as a dewaxing and clearing agent for H & E staining in a microwave oven.

Methods to maximise the staining of fungal propagules with fluorescent dyes

The spores and conidia of most fungi have very thick and resistant cell walls that severely impede the staining with fluorescent dyes to allow epifluorescence microscopy to be employed for their direct detection and quantification in natural habitats. In this study, oxidation by sodium hypochlorite and microwave irradiation (MWI) were used to enhance the staining of Aspergillus fumigatus and Penicillium brevicompactum conidia with six fluorescent dyes. Sodium hypochlorite resulted in high percentages of stained conidia (up to 98.8% with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole [DAPI]), but had to be removed prior to staining with consequent heavy conidia losses. By contrast, MWI gave very high percentages, while its enhancement of fluorescence intensity facilitated observation by epifluorescence microscopy.

Safranin O staining using a microwave oven

We investigated the effects of microwave irradiation on a safranin O staining method for paraffin sections of formalin fixed rabbit larynx. The control sections were stained according to the conventional method, and the experimental sections were stained in microwave oven for 10 sec at 360 W in Weigert's iron hematoxylin, and for 30 sec at 360 W in fast green and 0.1% safranin O staining solutions. Light microscopic examination of the sections revealed that the microwave heating did not adversely affect the staining properties of cartilage tissue compared to the conventional staining method. Small differences such as darker staining of the matrix and shrinkage of the cytoplasm was observed in some microwave treated sections. The present study revealed that microwave application can be used safely for the safranin O method with the advantage of reduced staining time.