ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors aim to investigate immunofluorescence of basement membrane components in mink spleen, and also aim to encounter a problem of autofluorescence of AA deposits. The autofluorescence could thus not be clearly distinguished from the specific fluorescence obtained with the immunochemical reaction. Many biological materials exhibit autofluorescence and this property is exploited in medicine and bioscience, e.g. in diagnostic endoscopies and in fluorescence activated cell sorting. The authors report autofluorescence of AA amyloid with a pattern of excitation and emission that differs from what has been described for Aβ. Independent of fixation the amyloid deposits in 10 out of the 12 amyloid mink spleens exhibited extensive extracellular autofluorescence under green light excitation. No autofluorescence was detected in the amyloid deposits of the murine or human cases examined. The authors conclude that use of fluorophores and immunofluorescence calls for awareness of the autofluorescent properties of amyloid to avoid false positives.
