Skip to main content
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana Center for Musculoskeletal Health

Histology and Histomorphometry Services

Paraffin Embedding and Sectioning Service

The Histology Core offers de-mineralization of mineralized tissue (if necessary), processing of specimens through paraffin embedding, thin sectioning of paraffin-embedded tissue, and staining of paraffin sections.

For routine assessment, slides are stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE; Harris hematoxylin, regressive method). Specialized stains are available, including Acidified Toluidine Blue (AcTB; for mast cells); Fast Green – Safranin O (FG/SO; for cartilage); Gomori’s Aldehyde Fuchsin, Wenk Modification (GAF; for pancreatic β cells, elastin, mast cells); Jones’ Periodic Acid-Silver Methenamine, AFIP Modification (JPA-ArM; for kidney glomerular capillary basement membrane); Masson’s Trichrome (MT; for collagen); Oil Red O (ORO; for lipids); Periodic Acid Schiff Procedure (PAS; for carbohydrates); Perls Iron Stain (PI); Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase (TRAP; for osteoclasts); Verhoeff-Van Giesen (VVG; for elastin); and Von Kossa Method for Mineral (VK).

Plastic (MMA) Embedding and Sectioning Service 

Our core offers processing of specimens through plastic (methyl methacrylate; MMA) embedding as well as thick sectioning of cortical bone, thin sectioning of trabecular (cancellous) bone, and staining of plastic sections.

The facility provides cover-slipped unstained sections for analysis of fluorochromes (dynamic histomorphometry). Specialized stains (for static histomorphometry) are available. Goldner’s Trichrome (GT; osteoid, osteoblasts and osteoclasts), Hematoxylin and eosin (HE; routine assessment) and Toluidine Blue (TB; cement lines and cartilage) are available for both thick and thin sections. Tartrate-Resistant Acid Phosphatase (TRAP; osteoclasts) and Von Kossa / MacNeal (VKM; osteoid, osteoblasts and osteoclasts) are available for thin sections only..

Cryosectioning Service

The Histology Service Core offers frozen tissue sections. Slides can be stained for standard and specialized stains, or for immunohistochemistry. Samples for cryosections should be frozen by the investigator and submitted for sectioning by the core. Please contact Drew Brown to schedule the delivery of the tissues.