title: Poor reliability of immunocytochemical localization of IgG in immersion-fixed tissue from the central nervous system.
abstract: The effect of fixation technique and post mortem-to-fixation interval in immersion-fixed tissue from the central nervous system on immunocytochemical staining for the presence of an immunoglobulin was determined in mice. Immersion-fixed tissue was found to be inferior to perfusion-fixed tissue for immunocytochemical staining of this serum protein. Unlike what has been observed for other antigens, the quality of staining for IgG in immersion-fixed tissue decreased to unacceptable levels if the post mortem-to-fixation interval was increased to more than a few hours. This effect may be secondary to the rapid post-mortem disintegration of the blood-brain barrier and a resulting diffusion of serum proteins into surrounding tissue from the vasculature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Fabian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000737:chemistry*; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007074:Immunoglobulin G