QUESTION
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I am looking at the EG039 EBV Antigen slides and wonder if they would work for Immunohistochemistry?
ANSWER
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The question is not whether the slides will work (they will) but whether the reagents used on the slide after fixation. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is usually tissue sections that are fixed with formalin then subjected to antibodies (anti-protein of interest) and a horseradish peroxidase conjugated secondary antibody. The antigens show themselves as dark spots during light microscopy examination. The problem that people have is that the formalin is a covalent modifier and can ruin the epitope that a monoclonal antibody recognizes. So it is the antibody that 'does not work' in IHC. Polyclonal antibodies will nearly always work in IHC since there is a multitude of different epitopes recognized and the chances of all of them being ruined by the formalin is very slim.
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