Microwave processing of gustatory tissues for immunohistochemistry.

We use immunohistochemistry to study taste cell structure and function as a means to elucidate how taste receptor cells communicate with nerve fibers and adjacent taste cells. This conventional method, however, is time consuming. In the present study we used taste buds from rat circumvallate papillae to compare conventional immunohistochemical tissue processing with microwave processing for the colocalization of several biochemical pathway markers (PLCβ2, syntaxin-1, IP3R3, α-gustducin) and the nuclear stain, Sytox. The results of our study indicate that in microwave versus conventional immunocytochemistry: (1) fixation quality is improved; (2) the amount of time necessary for processing tissue is decreased; (3) antigen retrieval is no longer needed; (4) image quality is superior. In sum, microwave tissue processing of gustatory tissues is faster and superior to conventional immunohistochemical tissue processing for many applications.