Dr Vivien Rolfe De Montfort University This is an Open Educational Resource (OER) that is globally available on the web Creative Commons BY SA

 The light microscope is used to examine histology slides. You should be familiar with the parts, operation and principles of the microscope.  Use our microscopy OERs to learn how to use the equipment:  RNdt3JM

 The most widely used stain around the world.  The following images will vary with stain variability and the quality of the camera that took the photograph.  Good for: Low power structural views of organs Types of tissue (e.g. muscle, epithelium) Epithelial classification

 Check for slide and stain quality e.g. using NEQAS scoring guidelines.  Abnormal staining or artifacts could obscure diagnosis and slides should be discarded.  In high-throughput diagnostic laboratories, several stains will be prepared and the best ones used for diagnosis.

Trachea – hyaline cartilage for rigidity forming a “horse shoe” shape Epithelium will be ciliated pseudostratified columnar Oesophagus – outer layer of smooth muscle Innermost epithelium stratified squamous

Longitudinal and transverse (right) muscle fibres. Note nuclei in different planes of section.

Longitudinal fibres with visible intercalated discs. Nuclei in syncitia (groups of muscle cells share nuclei).

 Simple – squamous, cuboidal, columnar  Pseudostratified – columnar  Stratified – squamous, cuboidal, columnar  Transitional

Buccal smear Toluidine blue!

Skin The upper layer (epidermis) is layers of dead squamous cells (keratinocytes) Basal layer Dermis and stem cells

Renal tubules in cross section with visible lumen

Small intestinal villi and crypts of Lierberkuhn Goblet cells containing mucus (oval cells unstained) GALT nuclei staining purple

Bladder Neither squamous – cuboidal or columnar Bladder epithelial cells are diverse sizes

Dr Vivien Rolfe De Montfort University This is an Open Educational Resource (OER) that is globally available on the web Creative Commons BY SA