Basophilic tissue has which charge?

• A. Positive
• B. Negative
• C. Neutral
• D. Both Positive And Negative

Answer: (B)

Basophilic staining comes from the tissue’s affinity for basic (positively charged) dyes, which bind to negatively charged components in the tissue. The structures that stain basophilic—like nuclei and ribosomes—are rich in acidic molecules such as DNA, RNA, and sulfated glycosaminoglycans. These components carry negative charges, so they attract the positively charged dye, producing a blue/purple appearance. So basophilic tissue has a negative charge. If the tissue were positively charged or neutral, it wouldn’t preferentially take up the basic dye in a basophilic pattern.