Microscopy & Tissue Preparation — General Histology & Microscopy

Microscopy & Tissue Preparation MCQs: practice questions

Sample Microscopy & Tissue Preparation multiple-choice questions from General Histology & Microscopy.

1. A researcher wants to demonstrate neutral lipids in a tissue while avoiding routine paraffin processing that extracts much of the lipid. Which approach is most appropriate?

   • A. Routine paraffin section with H&E only
   • B. Decalcification
   • C. Frozen section with a lipid stain
   • D. TEM after resin extraction
   • E. PAS staining

2. A pathologist wants to identify a specific protein in tissue using a labeled antibody. Which method is most appropriate?

   • A. Gram staining
   • B. Immunohistochemistry
   • C. PAS staining
   • D. H&E staining
   • E. Sudan staining

3. What is the principal purpose of embedding processed tissue in paraffin before routine sectioning?

   • A. To dissolve lipids
   • B. To decalcify bone
   • C. To increase antibody binding
   • D. To provide a firm support for thin sectioning
   • E. To sterilize the tissue

4. A student wants to examine the ultrastructure of a tight junction. Which instrument is most appropriate?

   • A. Routine light microscope
   • B. Scanning electron microscope
   • C. Transmission electron microscope
   • D. Phase-contrast microscope
   • E. Polarizing microscope

5. Which microscopic technique is particularly useful for observing living, unstained cells by enhancing contrast from differences in refractive index?

   • A. Phase-contrast microscopy
   • B. Bright-field microscopy
   • C. Transmission electron microscopy
   • D. Scanning electron microscopy
   • E. Polarizing microscopy

6. Which step is primarily intended to prevent autolysis and preserve tissue architecture immediately after collection?

7. What is the main reason tissue sections are placed on glass slides before microscopic examination?

8. A tissue is examined with a standard light microscope after routine paraffin processing and H&E staining. Which feature is most likely to be evaluated?

9. Which microscopy method is most appropriate for visualizing birefringent crystalline material?

10. Why is dehydration performed during routine tissue processing?

11. A specimen shows branching black fibers after a silver-based stain. Which tissue component is most likely being demonstrated?

12. Which technique is especially useful for localizing a fluorescently labeled protein within a thick specimen while obtaining optical sections?

13. A frozen tissue section is required rapidly during an operation. Which instrument is most appropriate?

14. Which technique can generate a series of optical sections through a fluorescently labeled specimen without physically cutting each optical plane?

15. Which processing step generally follows dehydration and precedes paraffin infiltration?

16. Which stain is classically used to demonstrate carbohydrate-rich structures such as basement membranes and mucins?

17. Which statement best distinguishes TEM from SEM?

18. Which component of routine H&E staining is primarily responsible for staining nuclei blue-purple?

19. Which technique is most useful for demonstrating collagen fibers in a tissue section by producing contrasting colors?

20. Why is decalcification commonly performed before routine paraffin sectioning of bone?

21. Which instrument is used to cut thin paraffin sections for routine light microscopy?

22. Which component of H&E staining typically produces a pink color in cytoplasm and many extracellular proteins?

23. A histology student observes a tissue in which cell boundaries are difficult to distinguish on H&E. Which technique would most directly help identify a specific membrane-associated protein?

24. A specimen must be examined for the three-dimensional surface topography of epithelial microvilli. Which technique is best?

25. A researcher needs to examine intracellular organelles at nanometer-scale resolution. Which method is most suitable?