title: Histopathology in mouse metabolic investigations.
abstract: Due to the small size of the mouse, evaluating its clinical phenotype is sometimes problematic. In contrast, mouse models are readily accessible to post-mortem analyses at any time during the course of a disease and prior to its clinical onset. RNA, protein, and histological analyses following sacrifice represent a powerful means to identify affected cell types and molecular events underlying the altered phenotype, and therefore to understanding the signaling or metabolic pathways involved. In this unit, an overview of post-mortem analyses is provided with a strong emphasis on the principles of routine histology, including tissue fixation, processing, embedding, and staining with hematoxylin and eosin. There are also several protocols for staining with specialized histological stains used in the metabolic field to detect intracellular lipids, intracellular lipid "ghosts", cholesterol esters, polysaccharides, mitochondria, pathological collagen deposits, and atherosclerotic plaques.
authors.affiliation: Institut Clinique de la Souris and Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Illkirch, France.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mark
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Teletin
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Antal
authors.forename: Olivia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wendling
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Auwerx
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heikkinen
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khetchoumian
authors.forename: Carmen A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Argmann
authors.forename: Mounzer
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dgheem
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006652:Histological Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D010641:Phenotype; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D016707:Tissue Fixation