Paraffin, frozen, and resin histology. Special stains and advanced techniques available as detailed below. Have a question or need help with a new project? Contact us for a complimentary consultation. All requests for Core services and equipment scheduling are available through iLabs.

If you are a new user and need to register, please click the button below. Then select “REGISTER” in the upper right corner of the page.


Fee Schedule

*Members of the MRC Research Base receive 33% discount on all fees.
For users outside of Washington University, please contact us for fees.

Surcharges & Discounts

Blocks(per block)
Paraffin Processing$10.00
Paraffin Processing + decal by core$24.00
Plastic embedding$44.00
Slides(per slide)
Paraffin section$2.15
Plastic section$12.25
micro/orientation fee50% extra/section
H & E stain$7.85
Special stains (view list)$12.15
Deplast.+coverslip$4.95
Frozen Sections
Frozen section$4.72
Non-decal section of bone$15.72
Frozen section on film$15.72
Coverslip w/o prior stain$1.57
Hourly Fees
Microtome Use$11.00/hour
Technician Time$44.00/hour
Confocal $15.00/hour
BioQuant $10.00/hour
Supplies
large slide box (100)$6.60
small slide box (25)$4.13
Microtome blades (ea)$1.80
Slides (box of 100)$24.75
EDTA Decalcification Solution1 Liter free per calendar month if samples are for core submission
$30/Liter beyond the first bottle/month
$30/Liter if you are not submitting samples to the core
 Surcharges & Discounts
Priority service fee
requires prior PI approval
50%
Core Member discount33%

Estimated Time Schedule for Services

Paraffin processing/sectioning/staining
     <= 20 blocks, no special requests1-2 weeks
     <= 20 blocks, microscope for orientation or leveling through (50+ slides per block)2-4 weeks
     > 20 blocks, no special requests2-4 weeks
     > 20 blocks, microscope for orientation or leveling through (50+ slides per block)4-8 weeks
MMA (plastic) processing/sectioning/staining
     <= 20 blocks4-8 weeks
     > 20 blocks8-12 weeks
Cryostat sectioning
     Routine2-4 weeks
    For LCMCan be scheduled
Priority (Rush) work
Not available for MMA processing
Less than 5 work days, needs PI approval, with 50% surcharge

Special Stains

(If you do not see your preferred stain, let us know. We accept special requests.)

  • Alcian Blue
  • Alcian Blue Hematoxylin Orange G
  • Alizarin Red
  • Bone Canaliculi Silver Stain
  • Geimsa
  • Goldner’s Trichrome
  • Gomori’s & Masson Trichrome
  • Gram Stain
  • Oil Red O
  • Pentachrome
  • Periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)
  • Perl’s Iron
  • Picosirius Red/Alcian Blue
  • PTAH (Phosphotungstic Acid Hematoxylin)
  • Reticulin
  • Safranin O (may NOT decalcify with EDTA as this leads to removal of the proteoglycans; must use Formic acid/Immunocal/CalEx)
  • Toluidine Blue
  • TRAP (Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase; must use neutral EDTA decalcification)
  • Verhoff van-Giesen (VVG)
  • Von Kossa
  • Weigert’s Resorcin Fushsin

Advanced Processing Methods

  • RNA Scope
  • CODEX Multiplexed Immunofluorescence
  • Spatial Transcriptomatic RNA analysis