Rapid and complete paraffin removal from human tissue sections delivers enhanced Raman spectroscopic and histopathological analysis

Riana Gaifulina; Daren J. Caruana; Dahmane Oukrif; Naomi J. Guppy; Siân Culley; Robert Brown; Ian Bell; Manuel Rodriguez-Justo; Katherine Lau; Geraint M. H. Thomas

doi:10.1039/C9AN01030K

Rapid and complete paraffin removal from human tissue sections delivers enhanced Raman spectroscopic and histopathological analysis†

Riana Gaifulina,^ab Daren J. Caruana,^b Dahmane Oukrif,^c Naomi J. Guppy,^d Siân Culley,^ae Robert Brown,^f Ian Bell,^f Manuel Rodriguez-Justo,^g Katherine Lau*^f and Geraint M. H. Thomas

*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK
E-mail: g.thomas@ucl.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 6098

^b Department of Chemistry, University College London, UK

^c Research Department of Pathology, University College London, UK

^d UCL Advanced Diagnostics, University College Hospital, UK

^e MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, UK

^f Spectroscopy Products Division, Renishaw plc, UK
E-mail: katherine.lau@nikon.com

^g Department of Gastrointestinal Pathology, University College Hospital and Department of Research Pathology/Cancer Institute, UCL, UK

Abstract

Incomplete removal of paraffin and organic contaminants from tissues processed for diagnostic histology has been a profound barrier to the introduction of Raman spectroscopic techniques into clinical practice. We report a route to rapid and complete paraffin removal from a range of formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissues using super mirror stainless steel slides. The method is equally effective on a range of human and animal tissues, performs equally well with archived and new samples and is compatible with standard pathology lab procedures. We describe a general enhancement of the Raman scatter and enhanced staining with antibodies used in immunohistochemistry for clinical diagnosis. We conclude that these novel slide substrates have the power to improve diagnosis through anatomical pathology by facilitating the simultaneous combination of improved, more sensitive immunohistochemical staining and simplified, more reliable Raman spectroscopic imaging, analysis and signal processing.

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Rapid and complete paraffin removal from human tissue sections delivers enhanced Raman spectroscopic and histopathological analysis†

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Rapid and complete paraffin removal from human tissue sections delivers enhanced Raman spectroscopic and histopathological analysis

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