Methyl methacrylate embedding to study the morphology and immunohistochemistry of adult guinea pig and mouse cochleae.

Abstract Background Histological analysis of the cochlea is required to understand the physiological and pathological processes in the inner ear. In the past, many embedding techniques have been tested in the cochlea to find an optimal protocol that gives both good morphological and immunohistochemical results. Resins provide high quality cochlear morphology with reduced immunogenicity due to the higher polymerization temperature. New method We used Technovit 9100 New ® , a low temperature embedding system based on methyl methacrylate, on adult guinea pig and mouse cochleae to evaluate preservation of the morphology and maintenance of the antigenicity. Results Conventional toluidine blue staining, as well as immunohistochemical staining with a set of commonly used antibodies, showed highly preserved morphology and immunogenicity of decalcified adult guinea pig and mouse cochleae. Comparison with existing method(s) We demonstrate both, well-preserved morphology and preservation of antigenicity, superior to other embedding techniques. Conclusions Our results showed that the Technovit 9100 New ® embedding system provided highly preserved morphology and immunogenicity with our protocol in adult guinea pig and mouse cochleae.