title: Pitfalls in immunohistochemistry--a recent example.
abstract: Immunohistochemistry is an important and valuable technique in many fields of research, although several common pitfalls can lead to wrong or misinterpreted results. A recently published study [1] claims that the protein MIA (melanoma inhibitory activity) is expressed in Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Careful re-analysis resulted in negative results. Due to these results of our group we feel that this analysis could serve as example for the potential problems in immunohistochemistry caused by the combination of an unspecific antibody and the omission of evaluating control tissue samples.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathology, University of Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riechers
authors.forename: Anja Katrin
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Bosserhoff
mesh_terms: D016477:Artifacts; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D019085:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; C090059:MIA protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins