Immunohistochemical Detection of Endothelial Proteins

Immunohistochemistry is a widely used research technique in blood-brain barrier (BBB) research being used for the cellular localization of proteins of interest in normal vessels and documentation of altered expression following disease states, for the identification of cultured cells and for the spatial localization of the products of novel genes. Antigens of interest are detected by the binding of specific antibodies to small unique regions on these molecules called epitopes. This antigen-antibody complex is directly or indirectly labeled with a marker, which may be an enzyme or fluorochrome that can be visualized by light and/or electron microscopy or fluorescence microscopy, respectively. Multiple labeling allows identification of more than one antigen in the same cell or tissue section.