NIH, National Cancer Institute, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis (DCTD) NIH - National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute DCTD - Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis

Effect of routine paraffin wax processing on cell membrane immunoreactivity in cutaneous tissue.

Author(s): Cerio R, MacDonald DM

Publication: J Clin Lab Immunol, 1986, Vol. 20, Page 97-100

PubMed ID: 2426450 PubMed Review Paper? No

Purpose of Paper

The purpose of this paper was to determine the influence of fixation duration and discrete stages of tissue processing (dehydration, clearing, paraffin impregnation) on the quality of immunohistochemical staining of a membrane antigen.

Conclusion of Paper

Fixation of divided skin biopsies in formol saline for 15 min to 4 h generated immunostaining comparable in pattern and quality to those observed in OCT embedded frozen sections, while longer durations generated a reduction in the number of immunopositive cells. Dehydration in ethanol and clearing in xylene impacted the quality of immunostaining, although effects were minimized when reagents were pre-cooled (4 degrees C). The duration of paraffin embedding significantly impacted immunoreactivity as well, as immunostaining was reduced after 3 h but not 1 h of paraffin impregnation.

Studies

  1. Study Purpose

    The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of fixation duration and discrete stages of tissue processing (dehydration, clearing, paraffin impregnation) on the quality of immunohistochemical staining of the membrane antigen OKT6 in formol saline preserved specimens.

    Summary of Findings:

    Fixation of divided skin biopsies in formol saline for 15 min to 4 h generated immunostaining comparable in pattern and quality to those observed in OCT embedded frozen sections; fixation for 8 h or longer yielded a reduction in the number of immunopositive cells. Dehydration in ethanol increased background staining, while clearing sections in xylene also substantially reduced immunoreactivity; although these effects were minimized when dehydration and clearing was performed with pre-cooled reagents (4 degrees C). The duration of paraffin impregnation significantly impacted immunoreactivity as well, as immunostaining was reduced after 3 h but not 1 h of paraffin impregnantion at 58 degrees C when employing pronase digestion (10 min at 37 degrees C) of tissue sections.

    Biospecimens
    Preservative Types
    • Other Preservative
    Diagnoses:
    • Not specified
    Platform:
    AnalyteTechnology Platform
    Protein Immunohistochemistry
    Pre-analytical Factors:
    ClassificationPre-analytical FactorValue(s)
    Biospecimen Preservation Time in fixative 15 min
    30 min
    1 h
    2 h
    4 h
    8 h
    12 h
    24 h
    48 h
    96 h
    Biospecimen Preservation Embedding duration/condition 15 min
    30 min
    1 h
    2 h
    3 h
    Analyte Extraction and Purification Antigen retrieval Pronase, 10 min at 37 degrees C
    Undigested
    Biospecimen Preservation Dehydration duration/condition Room temperature
    4 degrees C
    Biospecimen Preservation Clearing duration/condition Room temperature
    4 degrees C

You Recently Viewed  

News and Announcements

  • Most Downloaded SOPs in 2024

  • New Articles on the GTEx Project are Now FREELY Available!

  • Just Published!

  • More...