Immunohistochemistry: Basics and Methods

Combiningtwodifferentscienti?cdisciplines morphologyandimmunochemistry immunohistochemistryhasdevelopedasanimportantinstrumentinresearchand clinicalpathology. A basicunderstandingofunderlying principlesandpotential problemsisunavoidableifyouwanttobesuccessfulinyouruseofimmunohis- chemistry,aswellasingettingyourpaperspublishedandyourresearchgrants funded. Whilemanyexcellenttextsandmonographsexistwhichcovervariousaspects ofimmunohistochemistry,thelackofaconcisecomprehensiveguidetousing thesemethodswasamajormotivationforwritingthisbook. Ourintentionwasto createaneasy-to-readandfocusedresourcebasedonstate-of-the-artinformation forabroadaudiencerangingfromstudentsandtechnicalassistantstoexperienced researchers. Thishandbookhasaconciseformat,withprotocolsandinstructionsfor methodsimmediatelyfollowingtheshortintroductorytheoreticalmaterialineach chapter. BeingconsciousofthegrowingroleofInternetasaninformationsource, wehavefounditreasonableinmanycasestosubstitutecitingbooksandjournal publications with corresponding Internet websites. Where possible, commercial sourcesofreagents,kits,andequipmentarelistedthroughoutthetextinsteadof inaseparateindex. Thougheachchapterissmallandintroductory,thishandbook itself is self-suf?cient and provides a comprehensive look at the principles of immunohistochemistry. For readers wanting further depth of knowledge, each chapterisbackedupbyashortlistofcarefullyselectedoriginalarticles. Duringthelastdecade,pioneeringeffortsofhistochemistshaveledtoan- menseimprovementinthereagentsandprotocols. Theresearcherisurgedalwaysto determinethereasonforeverymethodandstepbeforedoingit. Thishandbookis intendedtohelpreaderstoavoidtroublesinthechoiceofanadequatemethod,which happenswhenusingstandardtextbooks. Forthishandbook,wecarefullyselected establishedmethodsandeasy-to-adoptprotocols,payingattentiontomoderndev- opmentsinimmunohistochemistry,suchasantigenretrieval,signalampli?cation, the use of epitope tags in immunohistochemistry, multiple immunolabeling or diagnosticimmunohistochemistry. Eachofthemethodsdescribedinthishandbook v vi Preface was provedby the authors; many of these methods are routinely used in daily practiceintheirinstitute. Allthepracticalmethodsadvocatedareclearlydescribed, withaccompanyingtables,andtheresultsobtainableareillustratedwithcolour micrographs. Acknowledgements We thank Vera Samoilova forthe perfect technical assistance and other colleaguesfromtheMu nsterUniversityClinicforsharingprobesandreagents. IgorB. BuchwalowandWernerBo cker Mu nster Contents 1 AntibodiesforImmunohistochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. 1 StructureofAntibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1. 2 PolyclonalAntibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. 3 MouseMonoclonalAntibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1. 4 RabbitMonoclonalAntibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1. 5 ProteinAandProteinGinImmunohistochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 AntibodyLabelingandtheChoiceoftheLabel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. 1 CovalentLabelingofAntibodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2. 2 Non-CovalentLabelingofPrimaryAntibodieswith LabeledFabFragments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 2. 3 EnzymeLabelsforLightMicroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2. 4 FluorophoreLabelsforFluorescenceMicroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2. 5 ColloidalGoldLabelsforElectronMicroscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1