Tissue block staining and domestic adhesive tape yield qualified integral sections of adult mouse orbits and eyeballs

Mapping Thyroid Changes in Size and Position During Enlargement in Adult Mice With Hyperthyroidism

The thyroid in Graves' disease undergoes a considerable divergence in size and position from the normal anatomy. However, knowledge of the pathological anatomy related to the change, which is required before planned surgical or local intervention, or diagnosis, is neglected. To investigate Graves' disease, we established a model of mice that successfully mimicked all the signs presented in the clinic. Under a long-term immunization (35 weeks), the animals displayed large heterogeneity in thyroid size, such as the cases of natural occurrence. These thyroids in the model were sized into various phases and registered. A blend of the registered thyroids and the thyroid and tracheal cartilage landmarks led to the production of site-dependent incidence graphs of thyroid in the front view and on the section for each phase. The merger of the incidence graphs of all the phases resulted in thyroid phase-dependent topography. The depicted graphs illustrate the fine localization of the thyroid in various sizes and their dynamic changes during enlargement, which may facilitate currently used fine-needle aspiration biopsy and ultrasonography-guided biopsy techniques. Familiarity with this knowledge might avoid misclassifying an abnormality as normal, or vice versa, and be helpful for imaging diagnosis and local surgery therapy in Graves' disease.

Flow chamber staining modality for real-time inspection of dynamic phenotypes in multiple histological stains

Traditional histological stains, such as hematoxylin-eosin (HE), special stains, and immunofluorescence (IF), have defined myriads of cellular phenotypes and tissue structures in a separate stained section. However, the precise connection of information conveyed by the various stains in the same section, which may be important for diagnosis, is absent. Here, we present a new staining modality-Flow chamber stain, which complies with the current staining workflow but possesses newly additional features non-seen in conventional stains, allowing for (1) quickly switching staining modes between destain and restain for multiplex staining in one single section from routinely histological preparation, (2) real-time inspecting and digitally capturing each specific stained phenotype, and (3) efficiently synthesizing graphs containing the tissue multiple-stained components at site-specific regions. Comparisons of its stains with those by the conventional staining fashions using the microscopic images of mouse tissues (lung, heart, liver, kidney, esophagus, and brain), involving stains of HE, Periodic acid-Schiff, Sirius red, and IF for Human IgG, and mouse CD45, hemoglobin, and CD31, showed no major discordance. Repetitive experiments testing on targeted areas of stained sections confirmed the method is reliable with accuracy and high reproducibility. Using the technique, the targets of IF were easily localized and seen structurally in HE- or special-stained sections, and the unknown or suspected components or structures in HE-stained sections were further determined in histological special stains or IF. By the technique, staining processing was videoed and made a backup for off-site pathologists, which facilitates tele-consultation or -education in current digital pathology. Mistakes, which might occur during the staining process, can be immediately found and amended accordingly. With the technique, a single section can provide much more information than the traditional stained counterpart. The staining mode bears great potential to become a common supplementary tool for traditional histopathology.

Definition of a sectioning plane and place for a section containing hoped-for regions using a spare counterpart specimen

Histological examination of targets in regions of interest in histological sections is one of the most frequently used tools in biomedical research. However, it is a technical challenge to secure a multitarget section for inspection of the structure’s mutual relationship of targets or a longitudinally filamentous- or tubular-formed tissue section for visitation of the overall morphological features. We present a method with a specified cutting plane and place, allowing researchers to cut directly at the multitarget centers accurately and quickly. The method is proven to be reliable with high accuracy and reproducibility and a low coefficient of variation, testing on repeat experiments of three target’s position-known models. With this method, we successfully yielded single sections containing whole intraorbital optical nerves, three aortic valves, or whole thoracic tracheas in their central positions. The adjoined custom-made tools used in the study, such as various tissue-specific formulated calibrated trimming and embedding guides, an organ-shaped cavity plaster mold, and a two-time embedding technique for optimal and identical trimming or embedding, also bear great potential to become a common supplemental tool for traditional histology and may contribute to the reduction of the labor, and the number of animals needed.