Silver compounds[1] are mixed with binding substances, applied to the surface of glass, and then fired in a furnace or kiln.
Although the exact chemical mechanism by which this occurs is unknown,[5] Golgi's method stains a limited number of cells at random in their entirety.
[6] Silver staining was introduced by Kerenyi and Gallyas as a sensitive procedure to detect trace amounts of proteins in gels.
Silver staining aids the visualization of targets of interest, namely intracellular and extracellular cellular components such as DNA and proteins, such as type III collagen and reticulin fibres by the deposition of metallic silver particles on the targets of interest.
[10] Pseudomonas,[11] Legionella, Leptospira, H. pylori, Bartonella and Treponema, and fungi such as Pneumocystis, Cryptococcus, and Candida are organisms that are stained with silver.
[18] The glycosylations of glycoproteins and polysaccharides can be oxidised by a 1-hour pre-treatment with 0.1% periodic acid at 4 °C, which improves the binding of silver ions and the staining result.
[19] First, the proteins are denatured in the gel by a fixative solution of 10% acetic acid and 30% ethanol and precipitated, at the same time the detergent (mostly SDS) is extracted.