There are four steps in tissue preparation. Fixation stabilizes and preserves the tissue.

sue. Embedding converts the tissue into a solid form which can be sliced ("sectioned"). Sectioning (slicing) provides the very thin specimens needed for microscopy. Staining provides visual contrast and may help identify specific tissue components.

Toluidine blue solution is used in testing for lignin, a complex organic molecule that bonds to cellulose fibres and strengthens and hardens the cell walls in plants. A positive toluidine blue test causes the solution to turn from blue to blue-green. A similar test can be performed with phloroglucinol-HCl solution, which turns red. Silver stain It is used to stain histologic sections. This kind of staining is important especially to show proteins (for example type III collagen) and DNA. It is used to show both substances inside and outside cells. Silver staining is also used in temperature gradient gel electrophoresis and in polyacrylamide gels. Silver staining is used in light microscopy. The metallic silver particles are deposited on sensitised reticulin fibres and are then easily seen in the microscopic preparations. Silver stain aids in the perception of reticular fibers. Haematoxylin, hematoxylin, Natural Black 1, or C.I. 75290 is extracted from the heartwood of the logwood tree.[1] When oxidized it forms haematein, a compound that forms strongly colored complexes with certain metal ions, notably Fe(III) and Al(III) salts. Metal-haematein complexes are used to stain cell nuclei prior to examination under a microscope. Structures that stain with iron- or aluminiumhaematein are often called basophilic, even though the mechanism of the staining is different from that of staining with basic dyes. Eosin is a fluorescent red dye resulting from the action of bromine on fluorescein. It can be used to stain cytoplasm, collagen and muscle fibers for examination under the microscope. Structures that stain readily with eosin are termed eosinophilic. The fluid-mosaic model describes the plasma membrane of animal cells. The plasma membrane that surrounds these cells has two layers (a bilayer) of phospholipids (fats with phosphorous attached), which at body temperature are like vegetable oil (fluid). Each phospholipid molecule has a head that is attracted to water (hydrophilic: hydro = water; philic = loving) and a tail that repels water (hydrophobic: hydro = water; phobic = fearing). Both layers of the plasma membrane have the hydrophilic heads pointing toward the outside; the hydrophobic tails form the inside of the bilayer. Because cells reside in a watery solution (extracellular fluid), and they contain a watery solution inside of them (cytoplasm), the plasma membrane forms a circle around each cell so that the water-loving heads are in contact with the fluid, and the water-fearing tails are protected on the inside.