Question

What is photobleaching? Would this phenomenon alter the results of your staining?! What are fixatives? What role does the fixative play in today's laboratory? There are different types of fixatives. Does the type of fixative matter?

Answer 1

*Photobleaching is also termed as fading. . It is defined as the irreversible destruction of an excited fluorophore..  

It is the fading away of the dye from the staining...

Yes it will alter the result of your straining.. .

2.A Fixative is described as a chemical substance which will preserve the shape, structure, relationship and chemical Constituents of tissues and cells after death. .

The primary function of fixatives is to prevent autolysis (enzymes attack) as well as putrefaction (bacterial attack) of tissues.

Autolysis seems to be a frequent issue in enzyme-rich tissues, and rigorously autolyzed tissue does not get stained properly for microscopic examination.

On the other hand, bacterial invasion can be blocked by following the strict antiseptic methods. .. .

Another important function is conserving the association

in between cells and extracellular substances.

Fixatives stabilize the cell component by making them insoluble, there by reducing the alteration by subsequent treatment and also preventing osmotic damage of tissue, which may cause shrinkage or swelling, thus preserving the cellular and tissue structure in life like state.

3.There are generally three types of fixation processes depending on the initial specimen:

1.Heat fixation

2.Immersion

3.Perfusion..

Yes, the types of fixatives matters for several reasons.

One reason is to kill the tissue so that postmortem decay (autolysis and putrefaction) is prevented. . It is by heat fixation..

Immersion fixation for cellular application..

Perfusion fixation via blood flow.