Support

We support researchers in accurately investigating tissue samples to characterise and score diseases like synovitis, osteoarthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, inflammatory arthritis, autoimmune diseases, cancer and more.

Decalcification

Any bony tissue will need decalcifying prior to sectioning or they could shatter and not cut properly. This can be done rapidly with formic acid but with the caveat that this acid may mask certain antigens for IHC/IF experiments. EDTA is much gentler method of decalcification that preserves most antigens.

Staining

Which stain to choose depends on what structure and tissue morphology you want to analyse and perform histopathological scoring. Here are some examples of routine stains:

Giemsa

Helicobactor (in gut), less differentiated intestinal  crypt cells stain dark purplish blue while basement membrane stains light blue and goblet cells purple. Also differentiates nuclei and cytoplasm. 

Haematoxilyn & Eosin

Cell nuclei purple and cytoplasm pink. This histological stain tells us about the general tissue morphology and allows us to distinguish between different inflammatory cells based on the cell nuclei shapes.

Massons Trichrome

For detecting fibrosis and distinguishing cells from connective tissue. Keratin and muscle are red, collagen and bone are blue/green and cytoplasm is light pink.

Picrosirius red

Differentiates between type 1 and type 2 collagen when viewed under polarised light and very good for highlighting the basement membrane in the gut.

Safranin-O & Fast Green

Safranin-O will stain cartilage pink in proportion to its proteoglycan content and Fast Green stains bone green. Coupled with a haematoxylin nuclei counterstain, Safranin-O/Fast Green is the standard stain for assessing osteoarthritis.