Golgi's method

<h2 id="mechanism">Mechanism</h2>
<p>The cells in nervous tissue are densely packed, and little information on their structures and interconnections can be obtained if all the cells are stained. Furthermore, the thin filamentary extensions of neural cells, including the <a href="/facts/Axon/5DCd4wLo">axon</a> and the <a href="/facts/Dendrite/bwv8MABY">dendrites</a> of neurons, are too slender and transparent to be seen with normal staining techniques. Golgi's method stains a limited number of cells at random in their entirety. The mechanism by which this happens is still largely unknown.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Dendrites, as well as the cell soma, are clearly stained in brown and black and can be followed in their entire length, which allowed neuroanatomists to track connections between neurons and to make visible the complex networking structure of many parts of the <a href="/facts/Brain/EKla9NkJ">brain</a> and <a href="/facts/Spinal_cord/XbWLr917">spinal cord</a>.
</p><p>Golgi's staining is achieved by impregnating aldehyde-fixed nervous tissue with <a href="/facts/Potassium_dichromate/MwRzD3gW">potassium dichromate</a> and <a href="/facts/Silver_nitrate/U5w4A3DN">silver nitrate</a>. Cells thus stained are filled by <a href="/facts/Crystallization/oCUUG80k">microcrystallization</a> of <a href="/facts/Silver_chromate/oe4MNwq0">silver chromate</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="technique">Technique</h2>
<p>According to SynapseWeb,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> this is the recipe for Golgi's staining technique:
</p>
<ol><li>Immerse a block (approx. 10x5 mm) of <a href="/facts/Formaldehyde/Ck8RLfqk">formaldehyde</a>-fixed (or <a href="/facts/Paraformaldehyde/9lcmgIWD">paraformaldehyde</a>- <a href="/facts/Glutaraldehyde/P6Q0fMdD">glutaraldehyde</a>-perfused) brain tissue into a 2% aqueous solution of <a href="/facts/Potassium_dichromate/MwRzD3gW">potassium dichromate</a> for 2 days</li>
<li>Dry the block shortly with <a href="/facts/Filter_paper/FVbDyXQ3">filter paper</a>.</li>
<li>Immerse the block into a 2% aqueous solution of silver nitrate for another 2 days.</li>
<li>Cut sections approx. 20–100 <a href="/facts/Micrometre/7eDFxD2L">μm</a> thick.</li>
<li>Dehydrate quickly in <a href="/facts/Ethanol/3lCLfBSP">ethanol</a>, clear and mount (e.g., into Depex or Enthalan).</li></ol>
<p>This technique has since been refined to substitute the silver precipitate with gold by immersing the sample in <a href="/facts/Gold_chloride/Q9UIjpUm">gold chloride</a> then <a href="/facts/Oxalic_acid/w4sCtT89">oxalic acid</a>, followed by removal of the silver by <a href="/facts/Sodium_thiosulfate/qAMvfeuv">sodium thiosulphate</a>. This preserves a greater degree of fine structure with the ultrastructural details marked by small particles of gold. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="quote">Quote</h2>
<p>Ramón y Cajal said of the Golgi method:
</p>
<i> I expressed the surprise which I experienced upon seeing with my own eyes the wonderful revelatory powers of the chrome-silver reaction and the absence of any excitement in the scientific world aroused by its discovery.</i>
<i>Recuerdos de mi vida, Vol. 2, Historia de mi labor científica</i>. Madrid: Moya, 1917, p. 76.

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ihcworld.com/imagegallery/images/special-stain/Golgi-g.jpg">Photomicrograph of a cortex cell stained with Golgi's</a>. IHC Image Gallery.</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080415214431/http://flybrain.neurobio.arizona.edu/Flybrain/html/atlas/golgi/">Golgi impregnations</a>. Images of the brain of flies.</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110830095802/http://synapses.clm.utexas.edu/learn/visualize/golgi2.stm#GolgiTime">Visualization of dendritic spines using Golgi Method</a>. SynapseWeb. Includes a time-lapse study of Golgi impregnation.</li>
<li>Berrebi, Albert: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20051014230419/http://ihcworld.com/imagegallery/displayimage.php?album=4&pos=13">Cell Biology of Neurons: Structure and Methods of Study</a>. (in PDF)</li>
<li><a href="http://brainmaps.org/index.php?q=Golgi-stained">Stained brain slice images which include the "Golgi-stained neurons"</a> at the <a href="/facts/BrainMaps/fpjYWc63">BrainMaps project</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Finger, Stanley (1994). Origins of neuroscience : a history of explorations into brain function. Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780195146943. OCLC 27151391. In 1873, Golgi published the first brief but "adequate" picture of la reazione nera (the black reaction), which showed the whole nerve cell, including its cell body, axon, and branching dendrites. <a href="9780195146943" target="_blank">9780195146943</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Nicholls, J. G. (2001). From neuron to brain. Sinauer Associates. pp. 5. ISBN 0878934391. <a href="0878934391" target="_blank">0878934391</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Spacek, J., Fiala, J. (2002-06-28). "Visualization of Dendritic Spines". SynapseWeb. Archived from the original on 2010-06-26. Retrieved 2010-06-17.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100626160944/http://synapses.clm.utexas.edu/learn/visualize/visualize.stm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100626160944/http://synapses.clm.utexas.edu/learn/visualize/visualize.stm</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>"Home – Springer".[dead link] <a href="http://www.springerlink.com/(f0cb2ybwsglgtnuip5efub55)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,11;journal,215,243;linkingpublicationresults,1:100182,1" target="_blank">http://www.springerlink.com/(f0cb2ybwsglgtnuip5efub55)/app/home/contribution.asp?referrer=parent&backto=issue,5,11;journal,215,243;linkingpublicationresults,1:100182,1</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Golgi's method open-in-new

Golgi's method