Pussy Willow Branches Caught up in a Spring Time Snowstorm
Bette K. Kleinschmidt-DeMasters (UCDHSC)

Light microscopy
This picture reminds me of pussy willow branches caught up in a spring time snowstorm—a bit of déjà vu for me from my northern Wisconsin childhood!
It actually however is a photomicrograph of a pediatric brain tumor (fortunately one of the relatively favorable types prognostically), which is cystic and has tumor cell processes floating in a background of mucin that is characteristic of this tumor type. The photomicrograph has been taken of a glass slide prepared from a thinly-sectioned (four micron thick!) slice of a piece of child’s brain tumor after it was surgically removed. The tissue has been specially prepared and immunostained for glial fibrillary acidic protein. The “positive” staining is evidenced by the brown color reaction within the wispy tumor cell processes, indicating that the tumor is glial (astrocytic) in type.

Traveling