Neuropathology and histology
The analysis and investigation of human neuronal and brain tissue are crucial to our understanding of how neurological diseases manifest, which areas are affected and in which manner. To support this, the Neuropathology lab can provide a wide range of services for tissue preparation and staining.
Services available
We have a full range of histology equipment, including tissue processors, semi-automated microtomes which can accommodate jumbo blocks, cryostats and an automated immunostainer.
Services available include
- tissue fixation, processing and cutting
- frozen sectioning
- routine histology stains, eg H&E
- special histological stains, eg trichomes and silver stains
- immunohistochemistry
- in-situ hybridisation
- fluorescence staining
- Tissue Microarrays
- Digital brightfield slide scanning
For more details, contact Dan Fillingham.
- Email: d.j.fillingham@sheffield.ac.uk
- Tel: +44 114 222 2272
The 91Ö±²¥ Brain Tissue Bank (SBTB)
The 91Ö±²¥ Brain Tissue Bank (SBTB) is a vital resource for our research which holds more than 800 brains donated from diseased patients.
The SBTB consists of a local donor cohort of brain and spinal cord tissue from diseased patients with MND, PD and dementias, as well as the brain donor cohort of the MRC-funded Cognitive Functions & Ageing Study (CFAS) for which 91Ö±²¥ is the lead neuropathology centre.
Laser capture microdissection
With specialised equipment which consists of a modified microscope equipped with laser functionality, it is possible to isolate individual cells or regions from a section of tissue. Nucleic acid or protein can be extracted from these isolates to be used in downstream analyses such as gene expression profiling experiments helping to uncover processes that are dysregulated in diseased samples compared to healthy tissue.