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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Antibodies for Immunohistochemistry

Antibody Labeling and the Choice of the Label
Probes Processing in Immunohistochemistry
Working with Antibodies
Background Staining, Autofluorescence and Blocking Steps
Immunostaining Enhancement
Multiple Multicolor Immunoenzyme Staining
Multiple Immunofluorescence Staining
Antigen Detection on Tissues Using Primary Antibody Raised in the Same Species
Probes for Staining Specific Cellular Organelles
The Use of Epitope Tags in Histochemistry
Immunohistochemistry at the Ultrastructural Level
Diagnostic Immunohistochemistry
A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words.