TSWIFT, a novel method for iterative staining of embedded and mounted human brain sections

Sci Rep. 2024 Jun 3;14(1):12688. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-63152-2.

Abstract

Comprehensive characterization of protein networks in mounted brain tissue represents a major challenge in brain and neurodegenerative disease research. In this study, we develop a simple staining method, called TSWIFT, to iteratively stain pre-mounted formalin fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) brain sections, thus enabling high-dimensional sample phenotyping. We show that TSWIFT conserves tissue architecture and allows for relabeling a single mounted FFPE sample more than 10 times, even after prolonged storage at 4 °C. Our results establish TSWIFT as an efficient method to obtain integrated high-dimensional knowledge of cellular proteomes by analyzing mounted FFPE human brain tissue.

MeSH terms

  • Brain* / metabolism
  • Formaldehyde / chemistry
  • Humans
  • Paraffin Embedding* / methods
  • Proteome / analysis
  • Proteomics / methods
  • Staining and Labeling* / methods
  • Tissue Fixation / methods

Substances

  • Proteome
  • Formaldehyde