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H&E stain is a popular staining method in histology. Its a combination of two dyes: the basic dye (hematoxylin) and the alcohol-based dye (eosin). In an H&E stain you will usually see both eosinophilia and basophilia: the nuclei of cells basophilic (blue), while eosinophilia is typical of cytoplasmic constituents (pink). Xylene, alcohols, distilled water are also required.
The purpose of an ELISA is to determine if a particular protein is present in a sample and if so, how much. There are two main variations on this method: you can determine how much antibody is in a sample, or you can determine how much protein is bound by an antibody. The distinction is whether you are trying to quantify an antibody or some other protein. In this example, we will use an ELISA to determine how much of a particular antibody is present in an individuals blood.
ELISAs are performed in 96-well plates which permits high throughput results. The bottom of each well is coated with a protein to which will bind the antibody you want to measure. Whole blood is allowed to clot and the cells are centrifuged out to obtain the clear serum with antibodies (called primary antibodies). The serum is incubated in a well, and each well contains a different serum (see figure below). A positive control serum and a negative control serum would be included among the 96 samples being tested.
Debulking is the surgical removal of part of a malignant tumour which cannot be completely excised, so as to enhance the effectiveness of radiation or chemotherapy. It is used only in specific malignancies, as generally partial removal of a tumor is not considered a worthwhile intervention. Ovarian carcinoma and some types of brain tumor are debulked prior to commencing radio- or chemotherapy. It may also be used in the case of slow growth tumors to shift tumor cells from phase of cell cycle to replicative pool.