Immunohistochemistry

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is an immune-based staining technique enabling antibody detection of specific antigens in tissue samples.

There are three main methods used in IHC: direct, indirect and enzyme „sandwich“ methods.

Direct IHC uses directly labelled (conjugated) primary antibodies while indirect IHC-detection uses unlabeled primary and labelled secondary antibodies. Both primary and secondary antibodies might be conjugated directly either to enzymes most commonly to horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or alkaline phosphatase (AP) or fluorophors. The sandwich method uses specific streptavidin or avidin binding reaction with biotin, which supports signal amplification, and might be preferable when detecting weakly-expressed antigens. Samples using enzymatic detection also need additionally enzyme substrates, which are enzymatically converted into stable chromogen products. These stable products can then be visualized under a light microscope.

We offer a broad range of primary and secondary antibodies, both unconjugated and conjugated to biotin, HRP, AP and various fluorophores. Available in our Webshop are also detection systems (avidin-biotin based, polymersystems), enzyme substrates, mounting media and buffers and solution for your successful immunohistochemical experiments.