Abstract
After various types of fixation, paraffin-embedded tissues are commonly used for histological analysis and pathological diagnosis; they are also suitable for long-term storage. Neutral buffered formalin, paraformaldehyde, and ethanol are common fixatives for histopathological analysis. For molecular biological analysis, fixed paraffin-embedded tissues are valuable resources; suitable fixative solutions and methods are needed to quantify and perform molecular biological analyses including immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Currently, 4 % paraformaldehyde is the recommended fixative for the preservation of RNAs and proteins, as well as for morphological study in paraffin-embedded human cervical cancer tissues that were xenografted in immunodeficient mice. Here, we describe the method for the fixation and preparation of paraffin-embedded tissue specimens for analysis of RNAs, proteins, and morphology.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Matsuda Y, Naito Z, Kawahara K, Nakazawa N, Korc M, Ishiwata T (2011) Nestin is a novel target for suppressing pancreatic cancer cell migration, invasion and metastasis. Cancer Biol Ther 11:512–523
Lehmann U, Kreipe H (2001) Real-time PCR analysis of DNA and RNA extracted from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded biopsies. Methods 25:409–418
Matsuda KM, Chung JY, Hewitt SM (2010) Histo-proteomic profiling of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. Expert Rev Proteomics 7:227–237
von Smolinski D, Leverkoehne I, von Samson-Himmelstjerna G, Gruber AD (2005) Impact of formalin-fixation and paraffin-embedding on the ratio between mRNA copy numbers of differently expressed genes. Histochem Cell Biol 124:177–188
Castiglione F, Degl’Innocenti DR, Taddei A, Garbini F, Buccoliero AM, Raspollini MR, Pepi M, Paglierani M, Asirelli G, Freschi G, Bechi P, Taddei GL (2007) Real-time PCR analysis of RNA extracted from formalin-fixed and paraffin-embeded tissues: effects of the fixation on outcome reliability. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol 15:338–342
Ostasiewicz P, Zielinska DF, Mann M, Wisniewski JR (2010) Proteome, phosphoproteome, and N-glycoproteome are quantitatively preserved in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue and analyzable by high-resolution mass spectrometry. J Proteome Res 9:3688–3700
Crockett DK, Lin Z, Vaughn CP, Lim MS, Elenitoba-Johnson KS (2005) Identification of proteins from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded cells by LC-MS/MS. Lab Invest 85:1405–1415
Scicchitano MS, Dalmas DA, Boyce RW, Thomas HC, Frazier KS (2009) Protein extraction of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue enables robust proteomic profiles by mass spectrometry. J Histochem Cytochem 57:849–860
Gruber AD, Moennig V, Hewicker-Trautwein M, Trautwein G (1994) Effect of formalin fixation and long-term storage on the detectability of bovine viral-diarrhoea-virus (BVDV) RNA in archival brain tissue using polymerase chain reaction. Zentralbl Veterinarmed B 41:654–661
Pikkarainen M, Martikainen P, Alafuzoff I (2010) The effect of prolonged fixation time on immunohistochemical staining of common neurodegenerative disease markers. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 69:40–52
Fraenkel-Conrat H, Olcott HS (1948) The reaction of formaldehyde with proteins; cross-linking between amino and primary amide or guanidyl groups. J Am Chem Soc 70:2673–2684
Shi SR, Key ME, Kalra KL (1991) Antigen retrieval in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues: an enhancement method for immunohistochemical staining based on microwave oven heating of tissue sections. J Histochem Cytochem 39:741–748
Allen GM, Middleton J, Katrak PH, Lord SR, Gandevia SC (2004) Prediction of voluntary activation, strength and endurance of elbow flexors in postpolio patients. Muscle Nerve 30:172–181
Su JM, Perlaky L, Li XN, Leung HC, Antalffy B, Armstrong D, Lau CC (2004) Comparison of ethanol versus formalin fixation on preservation of histology and RNA in laser capture microdissected brain tissues. Brain Pathol 14:175–182
Arnold MM, Srivastava S, Fredenburgh J, Stockard CR, Myers RB, Grizzle WE (1996) Effects of fixation and tissue processing on immunohistochemical demonstration of specific antigens. Biotech Histochem 71:224–230
Matsuda Y, Fujii T, Suzuki T, Yamahatsu K, Kawahara K, Teduka K, Kawamoto Y, Yamamoto T, Ishiwata T, Naito Z (2011) Comparison of fixation methods for preservation of morphology, RNAs, and proteins from paraffin-embedded human cancer cell-implanted mouse models. J Histochem Cytochem 59:68–75
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Matsuda, Y., Ishiwata, T. (2015). Fixation Methods for the Preservation of Morphology, RNAs, and Proteins in Paraffin-Embedded Human Cervical Cancer Cell Xenografts in Mice. In: Keppler, D., Lin, A. (eds) Cervical Cancer. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1249. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2013-6_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2013-6_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2012-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2013-6
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols