Flat plastic embedding and precise longitudinal sectioning of isolated testicular seminiferous tubules
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 2, 2026
Transillumination-Assisted Dissection of Specific Stages of the Mouse Seminiferous Epithelial Cycle for Downstream Immunostaining Analyses
Published on: October 7, 2020
1Institute of Anatomy, University of Bonn, Germany.
Abstract:
A method is presented for the flat plastic embedding and precise longitudinal semithin sectioning of dissected individual seminiferous tubules. Following standard aldehyde- and OsO4-fixation, individual resin-immersed tubules are polymerized in an exactly flat position between the plan surfaces of a glass slide and an inverted pre-polymerized resin block. Each embedded tubule thus lies directly at the even surface of the resulting block and can subsequently be sectioned along its longitudinal course. The morphology of continuous, up to approximately 20 mm-long tubule segments may thus be immediately surveyed by high resolution light-microscopy and, if required, be studied at the ultrastructural level as well.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Testes: Histology
The spermatogenic cells, responsible for producing sperm, are...
01:03Fixation and Sectioning
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...