TRPC1 immunolabeling. Flexor Digitorum Brevis muscle fibers were isolated from WT and TRPC1-deficient mice (1) (upper and lower panels respectively) and fixed and immunolabeled as decribed in (2) with anti-TRPC1 antibody (Chemicon). We observed a striated pattern in both groups (large staining in A-bands and faint staining in M-bands, as shown on the profile curves, performed along the red line...

BACKGROUND During the last years the analysis of microRNA expression patterns has led to completely new insights into cancer biology. Furthermore, these patterns are a very promising tool for the development of new diagnostic and prognostic markers. However, most human tumour samples for which long term clinical records are available exist only as formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded specimens. The...

A reliable method for the determination of total liver iron in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue is presented. The correlation with total liver iron in fresh tissue is good (r = 0.92). Material, which is processed routinely in the pathological anatomical department and stored in the archives, can be used for a quantitative iron determination for clinical or research purposes.

Five techniques for Gram staining bacteria in paraffin sections were compared on serial sections of pulmonary tissues from eight bacteriological necropsies. Brown and Hopp's method was the most satisfactory for distinguishing Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. However, this method cannot be recommended as the preparations were frequently overstained, and the Gram-negative bacteria were s...

Equine aural plaques were recently associated with four equine papillomaviruses (EcPVs) (Lange et al., 2013; Taniwaki et al., 2013). These viruses have been detected in fresh samples by PCR (Lange et al. 2013; Taniwaki et al., 2013), but EcPVs have not been identified in formalinfixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) aural plaque samples. Archives of FFPE aural plaques and other papilloma specimens...

We have compared the efficacies of three general primer pairs for the detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA in formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded carcinomas. The use of these primer pairs leads to underestimates of the HPV prevalence (GP5/6, 61.1%; CPI/IIG, 57.4%; MY09/11, 46.9%; combined, 72.8%). The efficacy of each primer pair seemed to be inversely correlated to the length of the am...

A 40-year-old healthy male employed in a bakery presented with a single lung nodule and underwent investigations to rule out pulmonary carcinoma. Biopsy was positive for yeast cells, which did not match common fungal pathogens. PCR assay of paraffin-embedded tissue and nucleotide sequencing with ribosomal ITS1-ITS2 universal primers revealed the presence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Routine tissue processing is usually associated with histological artifacts as a consequence of shrinkage and distortion during dehydration required for embedding. With hydrated specimens such as lung, embryonic, and tissues in hydrophilic membranes, tissue processing can induce severe artifacts that interfere with adequate microscopic evaluation. Here we present a method for embedding hydrophi...

Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is a powerful technique for measuring sub-second changes in neurotransmitter levels. A great time-limiting factor in the use of FSCV is the production of high-quality recording electrodes; common recording electrodes consist of cylindrical carbon fiber encased in borosilicate glass. When the borosilicate is heated and pulled, the molten glass ideally forms a ...

We present a novel and simple method for inducing cell death. Cells placed in contact with paraffin or other hydrophobic-hydrocarbon substances die. Cell death can be the result of apoptosis, which is also known as programmed cell death (PCD). In apoptosis, cells shrink and undergo both disintegration of the nucleoli and nuclear fragmentation (2). In necrosis, cells swell and disintegrate. Apop...