What is hematoxylin staining used for?

H and E staining helps identify different types of cells and tissues and provides important information about the pattern, shape, and structure of cells in a tissue sample. It is used to help diagnose diseases, such as cancer. Also called hematoxylin and eosin staining.

Why is hematoxylin used to stain nucleic acids?

Hematoxylin is positively charged and can react with negatively charged cell components, such as nucleic acids in the nucleus. These stain blue as a result. Eosin is negatively charged and can react with positively charged components in the tissue, such as amino groups in proteins in the cytoplasm.

What is AH and E stain?

The most commonly used staining system is called H&E (Haemotoxylin and Eosin). H&E contains the two dyes haemotoxylin and eosin. Eosin is an acidic dye: it is negatively charged (general formula for acidic dyes is: Na+dye-). It stains basic (or acidophilic) structures red or pink.

How does H&E stain work?

The H&E stain uses two dyes: hematoxylin and eosin. Hematoxylin reacts like a basic dye with a purplish blue colour. It stains acidic, or basophilic, structure including the cell nucleus (which contains DNA and nucleoprotein) and organelles that contain RNA such as ribosomes and the rough endoplasmic reticulum.

Is haematoxylin acidic or basic?

Haematoxylin can be considered as a basic dye. It is used to stain acidic structures a purplish blue. DNA in the nucleus, and RNA in ribosomes and in the rough endoplasmic reticulum are both acidic, and so haemotoxylin binds to them and stains them purple.

Is the nucleus acidic or basic?

Nucleus is acidic in nature. This is proved by the fact that it easily binds to basic dyes and gets stained. For example methylene blue, a basic dye stains the nucleus deep blue.

What is the principle of hematoxylin and eosin?

Hematoxylin and eosin are the principle stains used for the demonstration of nucleus and the cytoplasmic inclusions. Alum acts as a mordant and hematoxylin containing alum stains nucleus light blue which turns red in the presence of acid. The cell differentiation is achieved by treating the tissue with acid solution.

What is the principle of Pap stain?

The principle of pap stain is to clearly distinguish between basophilic and acidophilic cell components and obtain a detailed chromatin pattern. The pap stain has 3 solutions having 6 dyes.

What is the importance of hematoxylin stain in histology?

Hematoxylin and Eosin stains are used in many areas of the histology laboratory, including frozen sections, fine needle aspirates, and paraffin fixed embedded tissues. To better understand what makes a well-stained slide, it is important to understand the components of the stain. Hematoxylin is used to illustrate nuclear detail in cells. Depth of coloration is not only related to the amount of DNA in the nuclei but also to the length of time the sample spends in hematoxylin.

What does hematoxylin mean?

Definition of hematoxylin. : a crystalline phenolic compound C 16H 14O 6 found in logwood and used chiefly in biological staining.

Is hematoxylin basic dye?

Hematoxylin is the basic dye in this stain, staining the nuclei, with their high content of nucleic acids , dark blue. If the color is due to the acidic radical, the stain is an acid stain and structures stained by it are acidophilic. Generally basic structures attract the acidic dye and are acidophilic.

What is the stainig time for the hematoxylin and eosin?

I think 7-8 mins for haematoxylin and 3-5 min for eosin. To remove excess stain, you can dip the slide into glacial acetic acid mixed ( few ml) in 95% ethanol in dish before mounting. Cite 9th Jan, 2016