Question

Why it would be necessary to chemically preserve cells before sectioning them?

Answer 1

Sectioning is a process in which sections of the tissue sample are prepared to study the morphology and characteristics of the cells in that specific tissue sample. The tissue sample is collected and the cells in the tissue are preserved, this technique is called as tissue processing.

The tissue processing plays a role in the experiment as it preserves the epitopes and morphology of the cell. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) is the commonly used technique for preservation of cell sample for preparation of tissue blocks in tissue sectioning.

Mechanism of preservation
Formalin is a chemical used for fixation of the cells in a tissue sample. It produces chemical cross-linking of proteins develop within the cells which terminate all cellular processes and freezes the cellular components at the place and in the conformation this also prevent degradation of cells. Hence to terminate the cellular process and to maintain the structural integrity of the cell it is necessary to chemically preserve the cell before sectioning by using Formalin.

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