title: Quantitative immunogold labeling of bone sialoprotein and osteopontin in methylmethacrylate-embedded rat bone.
abstract: Methylmethacrylate (MMA) embedding of undecalcified bone is routinely employed for histomorphometric analyses. Although MMA-embedded bone has been used for immunolabeling at the light microscopic level after removal of the resin, there are no such reports for electron microscopy. The aim of the present study was to determine whether MMA embedding can be used for ultrastructural immunolabeling and how it compares to LR White (LRW), an acrylic resin frequently used for immunocytochemistry of bone. Rat tibiae were fixed by vascular perfusion with aldehyde and embedded either in MMA or LRW resin. Thin sections were processed for postembedding protein A-gold immunolabeling with antibodies to rat bone sialoprotein (BSP) and osteopontin (OPN). The density of gold particles over bone was quantified. The density and distribution of immunolabeling for BSP and OPN respectively, were comparable between MMA and LRW. These results indicate that MMA performs as well as LRW for the ultrastructural immunolabeling of noncollagenous bone matrix proteins.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for the Study of Calcified Tissues and Biomaterials, Faculty of Dentistry, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Laboux
authors.forename: L-G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Ste-Marie
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Glorieux
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nanci
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005629:Frozen Sections; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D058574:Integrin-Binding Sialoprotein; D008297:Male; D020366:Methylmethacrylate; D053495:Osteopontin; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016610:Tissue Embedding / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; C546873:Ibsp protein, rat; D058574:Integrin-Binding Sialoprotein; D012795:Sialoglycoproteins; C506897:Spp1 protein, rat; D053495:Osteopontin; D020366:Methylmethacrylate; C048707:LR white