Formalin-induced fluorescence reveals cell shape and morphology in biological tissue samples

Abstract

Ultramicroscopy is a powerful tool to reveal detailed three-dimensional structures of large microscopical objects. Using high magnification, we observed that formalin induces fluorescence more in extra-cellular space and stains cellular structures negatively, rendering cells as dark objects in front of a bright background. Here, we show this effect on a three-dimensional image stack of a hippocampus sample, focusing on the CA1 region. This method, called FIF-Ultramicroscopy, allows for the three-dimensional observation of cellular structures in various tissue types without complicated staining techniques. © 2010 Leischner et al.