Caito Moore

Date of Award

2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Clore, Amy

Area of Concentration

Natural Sciences

Abstract

This thesis purports to provide a comprehensive review of fixatives and fixation techniques for the purpose of light microscopy, and for the various downstream processes that may occur during or after microscopic visualization. Fixatives preserve tissues while preventing their natural death by putrefaction, apoptosis, or other natural processes of decay, and allow the tissue to remain structurally or functionally intact for histopathology. Fixation protocols, encompassing the various procedures required to render a tissue usable for microscopy or analysis, are discussed to provide context for the necessity and analysis of chemical fixatives themselves. A “compendium of fixatives” organizes, compares and describes the various fixatives analyzed, in order to facilitate discussion of each type of fixative, spanning from historically-used solutions such as denaturing ethanol and protein cross-linking formaldehyde to modern alternatives such as molecular fixatives and microwave techniques. The downstream processes that require a fixed tissue, which include critical diagnostic tools such as immunohistochemistry and genetic sequencing techniques such as PCR, are then discussed in relation to the fixatives that facilitate them. These and other potential novel techniques in the field of histology will likely precipitate a number of innovations in fixation procedures, particularly those that move away from the traditional model of protein-based fixation.

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