Protocol

Preparing Paraffin Tissue Sections for Immunostaining

This protocol was adapted from "Staining Tissues," Chapter 6, in Using Antibodies by Ed Harlow and David Lane. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 1999.

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INTRODUCTION

Most histological studies are carried out on paraformaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue samples. Therefore, there is an extensive atlas of most tissues and organs prepared from these sources, and comparing the location of antigens to these data is immediately informative. The fixation and embedding procedures are harsh, however, and many antigens are not well preserved. Be aware that prolonged fixation diminishes the ability of antibodies to work, and in pathology laboratories, the duration and other details of fixation are rarely standardized. In addition, the constant rate of penetration of fixative into tissue means . . . [Full Text of this Article]

MATERIALS

Reagents

Equipment

METHOD

TROUBLESHOOTING