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Infectious Disease Pathogenesis
 Mouse Necropsy
 Veterinary Pathology



Comparative Medicine Branch

Veterinary Pathology

Rodent Immunohistochemistry

Rat and Mouse Protocols

Sources of Antibodies

(All sites listed are non-federal Web sites.)

References of Antibodies

Examples of Antigen Expression

Illustrated on this page and related pages are examples of antigens we have worked with. Some have been difficult to demonstrate. For these, we explain the tricks to use for demonstrating these antigens. If you have a specific problem in immunostaining involving rodents, you can e-mail Dr. Ward for his comments.

Nuclear Antigens

p53 nuclear reactivity in human cell line with p53 mutation. Note variation in nuclear immunoreactivity, paraformaldehyde fixation
p53 nuclear reactivity photograph 

T/ebp (TTF-1) in bronchiolar epithelial cells, requires Carnoy's fixation. Courtesy of Dr. Minoo, USC.
T/ebp (TTF-1) in bronchiolar epithelial cells

BrdU in basal cells of mouse skin after TPA exposure.
BrdU in basal cells photograph

PCNA in mouse liver preneoplastic focus.
PCNA in mouse liver photograph 

Apoptosis can be identified with H&E stained sections (left) or apoptosis kits (right). Both methods illustrate the same apoptotic bodies in the mouse stomach.
Apoptosis can be identified with H&E stained sections photograph  Apoptosi identified apoptosis kits photograph

Cytoplasmic Antigens

Left - Actin in myoepithelial cell. Formalin fixation. Slide courtesy of Dr. Sabine Rehm. Middle - Keratin (high molecular weight) in bile duct epithelium and oval cells of mouse liver. Ethanol is often the best fixative to use to demonstrate keratins. Right - IgG in plasma cells in mouse lymph node. Immunoglobulins are best demonstrated with Bouin's, B-5 or paraformaldehyde fixation.
myoepithelial cell keratin photograph plasma

Left - GSTP in human liver bile duct, ductule and oval cells. Formalin. Note similarity to keratin in similar mouse liver lesions. Right - ras p21 (in a granular cytoplasmic staining pattern) in normal rat renal tubule cells with a unique monoclonal antibody. Contrast with membrane staining seen below in tumor cells. Bouin's fixation.
GSTP in human liver bile duct photograph ras p21

Antigen in endothelium of venules and capillaries in a mouse transplantable tumor
tumor vessels photograph

Positive Cell Controls For Immunohistochemistry

The Pellet Technique: In Vitro Cell Pellets As Controls For Immunohistochemistry
  1. Scrape bottom of flask with rubber policeman
  2. Centrifuge media and cells to produce pellets
  3. Fix in formalin, Bouin's, frozen etc.
  4. Embed in paraffin
  5. Perform Immunohistochemistry for antigen
  6. Compare with tissue sections

Left - Pellets in tubes after centrifugation of cell lines. Middle - ras p21 on cell membranes of cultured cells prepared by pellet technique as shown on left. Cell line with 30 copies of H-ras. Bouin's fixation. Right - an antigen immunoreacting on cell membranes and in Golgi area of cells.
Pellets in tubes ras p21 on cell membranes photograph antigen immunoreacting

Mouse Hematopoietic Pathology

See books in Pathology of Genetically Engineered Mice

Atlas of Mouse Hematopathology (non-federal Web site)

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