{"title":"Preserving brain health by minimizing microplastic output from resin histology.","authors":"Tia Tedford","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2449279","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2449279","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>With an increasing concentration of microplastics (MPs) in every biome, laboratories with a focus on creating histology slides from resin-embedded specimens could be partially responsible for expanding the emission of microscopic resinous particles into the environment. With current research elucidating harmful health impacts from MPs, releasing them incautiously is arguably unethical and, in the near future, plausibly illegal. The Orthopedic Bioengineering Research Laboratory (OBRL) is in Colorado, a state known not only for its natural beauty but also for its increasing number of legislative amendments aimed at reducing plastic pollution. The histology department of the OBRL has chosen to self-regulate due to the importance of protecting health and the environment. Because virtually every molecule of plastic ever created is still in existence, a greater need for MP research and mitigation has become apparent. Remediation is specifically important due to findings indicating negative impacts on neurodevelopment, neuronal organelle function, mental health, and the increased risk of dementia.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":"48 3","pages":"160-162"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144888615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qiurong Lin, Fan Yang, Xiaofeng Zhu, Haidong Zou, Wei Xu
{"title":"Hyperglycemia and insulin treatment promote the proliferation of retinal pigment epithelium cells in early diabetes: an <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> study.","authors":"Qiurong Lin, Fan Yang, Xiaofeng Zhu, Haidong Zou, Wei Xu","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2503520","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2503520","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is associated with the emergence and development of diabetic retinopathy. Interestingly, a previous clinical study observed that the atrophy of RPE cells surrounding the optic disc in type 1 diabetic children were significantly less pronounced compared to normal children, contradicting current reports. In order to explore the molecular mechanisms behind this contradictory phenomenon, we conducted a series of experiments and reached the following results. First, RPE cells proliferation increased in a glucose concentration-dependent manner <i>in vitro</i>, accompanied by elevated Brachyury and CTGF protein expression, but decreased overall cell viability. Secondly, <i>in vitro</i> experiments and diabetes mouse models confirmed that insulin promoted RPE cell proliferation in high glucose concentrations by activating ERK1/2 phosphorylation. Furthermore, insulin down-regulated the expression of Brachyury and CTGF proteins, possibly reducing high-glucose‒induced damage to RPE cells. In conclusion, the effect of insulin treatment on the proliferation of RPE cells was significantly more significant than that of hyperglycemia, which may be related to the activation of Erk1/2 or reduction of RPE cell damage by inhibiting the occurrence of EMT.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"135-145"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144078431","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Paraffin sectioning in the modern laboratory and the problem of static electricity: a review.","authors":"Ronald Sluys, Sytske de Waart","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2544011","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2544011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Build-up of static electricity frequently hampers proper production and handling of serial paraffin sections produced on a microtome, a problem that is exacerbated in modern, fully climatized laboratories. In this context, we review a number of suggested remedies for static electricity, concerning increase of humidity, in one way or the other, and various kinds of anti-static devices. An excellent solution, the shockless one-point ionizing bar that we have implemented in our laboratory, albeit not new, is presented here in detail.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"117-122"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144855491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Diagnostic yield of stains for infectious organisms in esophageal or gastroesophageal junction biopsies with esophagitis.","authors":"Aaron R Huber, Christa L Whitney-Miller","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2415154","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2415154","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stains frequently performed to exclude infectious etiologies in esophagitis include Grocott methenamine silver (GMS) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) as well as immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays for cytomegalovirus (CMV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV). The diagnostic yield of these tests, in this situation, has not been well studied. We retrospectively reviewed 261 esophageal biopsies, which had one or more of the above tests performed. The diagnostic yield for GMS and PAS was 8%, while CMV and HSV immunohistochemistry had a diagnostic yield of 1% and 0%, respectively. Our study suggests that routine use of ancillary labeling techniques in esophagitis biopsies may be of limited utility and have low diagnostic yield.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"114-116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142467445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qiangqiang Gu, Nianyi Li, Nickolas G Littlefield, Fengyi Gao, Monika Lamba Saini, Yongfu Wang, Bradley J Wheeler, T Rinda Soong, Rong Xia, Ahmad P Tafti
{"title":"AI-Augmented authorship: revolutionizing histopathology publishing in the generative AI era.","authors":"Qiangqiang Gu, Nianyi Li, Nickolas G Littlefield, Fengyi Gao, Monika Lamba Saini, Yongfu Wang, Bradley J Wheeler, T Rinda Soong, Rong Xia, Ahmad P Tafti","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2505294","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2025.2505294","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"79-81"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144093988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The impact of gliomas on the normal brain microenvironment: a pilot study.","authors":"Nicole Riha, Jacen S Moore, Sheila Criswell","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2408505","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2408505","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gliomas are malignant tumors of neuronal support cells within the central nervous system (CNS) and are characterized by poor overall prognoses and limited treatment options due to their infiltrative growth patterns. The neural tumor microenvironment, composed of benign neurons, neuroglia, endothelial cells, and intravascular white blood cells, is a target-rich site for potential chemotherapeutic agents. This study assessed cell proliferation rates, white blood cell components, and a limited number of nuclear, cytoplasmic, and membrane markers using immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays on formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded benign and glial tumor tissue samples from the CNS. It was observed that glioma tissues had increased rates of glial cell proliferation and significant increases in the number of observed T-lymphocytes and granulocytes but decreased expression of markers Somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2), L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM), and GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3) when compared to benign tissue samples. Understanding the lack of protein expression and population expansion potential of the glioma microenvironment in greater detail could help identify valuable therapeutic target combinations for future treatments.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"93-102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142348107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xidan Zhang, Jiyu Sun, Xiting Zhu, Zhenghao Yang, Zhuoli Zhu, Min Zhou, Chen Li, Haiyang Yu, Xueqi Gan
{"title":"Low-magnitude high-frequency vibration ameliorates high glucose-induced endothelial injury by restoring mitochondrial function via AMPK/mTOR pathway.","authors":"Xidan Zhang, Jiyu Sun, Xiting Zhu, Zhenghao Yang, Zhuoli Zhu, Min Zhou, Chen Li, Haiyang Yu, Xueqi Gan","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2429855","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2429855","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>High glucose-induced dysfunction of endothelial cells is a critical and initiating factor in the genesis of diabetic vascular complications. Low-magnitude high-frequency vibration (LMHFV) is a non-invasive biophysical intervention. It has been reported that it exhibits protective effects on high glucose-induced osteoblast dysfunction, but little was known on diabetic vascular complications. In this work, we aim to clarify the role of LMHFV on high glucose-induced endothelial dysfunction and hypothesized that the protective effects functioned through adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. We cultured primary murine aortic endothelial cells (MAECs) in normal or HG medium, respectively, before exposing to LMHFV. The tube formation, paracellular permeability assay, and aortic ring sprouting assay showed that the high glucose injured-function of MAECs was improved after LMHFV treatment. The intracellular ROS generation analysis, mitochondrial complex I activities measurement, ATP measurement and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and mitochondrial ROS generation analysis of MAECs indicated that mitochondrial function was restored by LMHFV loading in a high glucose environment. Mechanically, western blot assays showed that AMPK phosphorylation was promoted and mTOR was inhibited in LMHFV-induced endothelial function restoration. After the administration of the AMPK inhibitor, Compound C, these protective effects resulting from LMHFV are reversed. These findings suggest that LMHFV plays a significant role in protecting endothelial cells' function and mitochondrial function in high glucose-induced injured MAECs via AMPK/mTOR signalling.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"82-92"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142675913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adaptation of the HistoEnder, an open-source 3D printer for automated transmission electron microscopy grid staining.","authors":"Philip Seifert","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2403872","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2403872","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The HistoEnder, an inexpensive open-source 3D printer published as an automated histological slide stainer, has been adapted for conventional biological transmission electron microscopy (TEM) batch grid staining. Details are presented of the 3D printed apparatus, assembly, G-code programming, and operation on the 3D printer to post-section stains up to 20 grids through aqueous uranyl acetate, distilled water rinses, and lead stains. TEM Results are identical to manual staining with the advantages of automation using the low cost HistoEnder, apparatus, and equipment.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"109-113"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142289123","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Charles Havnar, Loryn Holokai, Ryan Ichikawa, Wennie Chen, Alexis Scherl, Eliah R Shamir
{"title":"Histogel-based techniques for embedding organoids in paraffin blocks enable high throughput downstream histopathological analyses.","authors":"Charles Havnar, Loryn Holokai, Ryan Ichikawa, Wennie Chen, Alexis Scherl, Eliah R Shamir","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2398381","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2398381","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organoids are <i>in vitro</i> tissue models derived from human or animal primary tissues or stem cells that allow for studying three-dimensional (3D) tissue biology, toxicity testing, biomarker evaluation, and assessment of compound efficacy, supplementing or potentially minimizing use of animal models. Organoids are typically cultured in a 3D format within an extracellular matrix and, at the end of an experiment, can be further processed for various cellular or molecular readouts. Analysis often relies on whole mount immunolabeling for markers of interest, which consumes the entire sample/well, thereby limiting sample availability for downstream assays. In addition, 3D cultures become more friable after fixation and are susceptible to sample loss during washing steps. In contrast, by fixing and processing organoids to a paraffin block, dozens or hundreds of unstained slides can be generated, enabling robust characterization via multiple assays, including histologic evaluation and (immuno)histochemical stains, thus maximizing the yield of these time- and labor-intensive cultures. Here we describe three methods to process 3D Matrigel cultures into paraffin blocks using Histogel as an embedding agent. The three techniques all yield high-quality sections but vary in complexity of implementation at different steps, and their application for different use cases is discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"46-57"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142132950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sheila Criswell, Brian Gaylord, Christopher R Pitzer
{"title":"Histological methods for plant tissues.","authors":"Sheila Criswell, Brian Gaylord, Christopher R Pitzer","doi":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2397989","DOIUrl":"10.1080/01478885.2024.2397989","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although many of the structures and organelles of vegetative cells are comparable to those of animal tissues, significant differences between the two kingdoms require modifications in histological techniques for both tissue processing steps and histochemical staining techniques. The authors investigated the challenges of working with plant tissues by collecting various flora to represent the four main plant organs: leaf, stem, root, and flower/fruit. Triplicate samples for each specimen were placed into formalin for paraffin embedding, placed into formalin for later frozen sections, and used fresh to undergo immediate frozen sectioning. Frozen sections of plant tissues were more difficult to obtain than formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections, exhibited tissue loss during staining, and were inferior morphologically to FFPE sections. Although, historically, plant tissue fixation and processing has employed several different reagents compared with those used in animal tissue processing and took significantly longer times, the current investigation determined reagents and protocols from a modern histology laboratory which processes mammalian tissues can be applied to plant tissue processing with only slight modifications in respect to reagent timing. Additionally, staining techniques were compared and while it is well known that plant cell walls stain well with safranin O, the current investigation determined the uptake of safranin O can be accelerated by incubating at 60°C.</p>","PeriodicalId":15966,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Histotechnology","volume":" ","pages":"58-67"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142120024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}