ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a generic introduction to the immunohistochemical localization of specific proteins within cells/tissues of postimplantation mammalian embryos. There are two basic approaches to the localization of proteins within cells/tissues of a postimplantation embryo, that is, tissue-section immunohistochemistry, in which antibodies are applied to histological sections, and whole-mount immunohistochemistry, in which antibodies are incubated with permeabilized, but intact embryos. Tissue-section immunohistochemistry is the most common method in use to localize proteins within tissues. The chapter outlines methods and protocols for the localization of proteins within tissues of the postimplantation mammalian embryo. It examines methods of tissue preparation, and presents a discussion of important parameters associated with antibody recognition and binding to the antigen of interest. One of the challenges of immunohistochemistry is to maximize antigen/antibody staining while minimizing nonspecific or background staining, i.e., maximizing the signal-to-noise ratio. Immunohistochemistry involves visualizing the antigen of interest in a tissue section by virtue of a staining reaction.
