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Plan chromogenic ALDH3A1 IHC in paraffin sections using esophageal squamous epithelium and stomach glands as high-staining reference tissues (HPA tissue IHC). The IHC-validated antibody A01121-4 has a listed human IHC concentration of 2–5 μg/mL (datasheet A01121-4).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Mainly cytoplasmic in tissue sections (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Cytoplasmic in squamous epithelia and stomach glands (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet A01121-4) | |
| Positive control | Esophagus+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Adipose tissue+4 more · see all |
| Fixation | Keep fixation conditions consistent across paraffin sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Staining intensity varies by tissue and cell type (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | No specific expression regulator reported (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | No annotated isoforms, signal peptide or propeptide (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody has a datasheet IHC-P protocol; the four published ALDH3A1 IHC studies below provide tissue-specific conditions (datasheet A01121-4; PMC12246704; PMC12384013; PMC6966589; PMC4153422).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human liver cancer tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet A01121-4) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet A01121-4); verify before use. |
| Sectioning | 4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard) |
| Deparaffinisation | Xylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard) |
| Antigen retrieval | Heat retrieval: EDTA pH 8.0 (datasheet A01121-4); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet A01121-4) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-ALDH3A1, 2-5 μg/ml (datasheet A01121-4) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet A01121-4) |
| Detection | HRP-conjugated secondary, DAB chromogen (datasheet A01121-4) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | ALDH3A1-positive staining in squamous epithelial cells of esophagus (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Mainly cytoplasmic expression in several tissues, most abundant in squamous epithelia and stomach. No signal in the no-primary control. |
ALDH3A1 should appear mainly in the cytoplasm of squamous epithelial cells and stomach glandular cells, with strong examples in esophagus, oral mucosa, skin basal cells, and stomach glands (HPA tissue IHC). This fits a cytoplasmic protein with no transmembrane segment (UniProt P30838). HPA rates tissue staining reliability Enhanced, while reporting medium consistency with RNA expression (HPA tissue IHC).
| Strong cytoplasmic staining in esophageal or oral squamous epithelium and stomach glands. | This matches the reported high staining in those cells (HPA tissue IHC: High). Judge the relevant epithelial or glandular cells rather than assigning one score to the whole section (standard IHC practice). |
| Predominantly nuclear staining in an IHC section, with little cytoplasmic signal. | The compartment differs from the mainly cytoplasmic tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC; UniProt P30838: Cytoplasm). Review staining controls before treating it as ALDH3A1; ICC-IF also reports nucleoplasm as an additional location, so nuclear signal alone is not proof of artefact (HPA ICC-IF). |
| Strong staining in adipocytes or bone-marrow hematopoietic cells. | Those cell types are reported as not detected (HPA tissue IHC). Investigate antibody cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity, especially if a no-primary control also develops color (standard IHC practice). |
| Brown haze extends across cells and tissue spaces without a clear cellular pattern. | Diffuse color is difficult to reconcile with the reported epithelial and glandular staining pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Check the no-primary control and detection background before assigning a biological score (standard IHC practice). |
| No staining in esophageal squamous epithelium or stomach glandular cells. | Both are reported as high-staining examples (HPA tissue IHC: High). A blank section calls for review of tissue preservation, retrieval, antibody incubation, and detection controls; it does not by itself establish absent ALDH3A1 (standard IHC practice). |
| Tissue and cell selection (HPA tissue IHC). | Esophageal and oral squamous cells, skin basal cells, and stomach glandular cells are high-staining examples; adipocytes and bone-marrow hematopoietic cells are reported as not detected (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Intracellular location and topology (UniProt P30838). | UniProt places ALDH3A1 in the cytoplasm and reports no transmembrane segment; the tissue IHC profile is mainly cytoplasmic (UniProt P30838; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Strength of tissue evidence (HPA tissue IHC). | HPA labels tissue staining Enhanced but describes only medium consistency with RNA expression; interpret an unexpected cell pattern with controls and the tissue context (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). |
| Application-specific localization (HPA ICC-IF). | ICC-IF reports plasma membrane and cytosol as main locations, plus nucleoplasm and vesicles; these cell-image observations do not define the expected chromogenic tissue IHC pattern (HPA ICC-IF; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| A known high-staining tissue is blank (HPA tissue IHC: High in esophagus and stomach). | A failed staining step is possible; the image alone cannot identify which step failed (standard IHC practice). | Check section integrity and positive controls, then review retrieval, primary incubation, and chromogenic detection steps (standard IHC practice). |
| Most tissue structures show uniform brown color. | Nonspecific detection or endogenous activity may obscure a cell-specific pattern (standard IHC practice). | Compare a no-primary control; review blocking, washes, and detection chemistry before scoring epithelial cells (standard IHC practice). |
| Signal is mainly nuclear in tissue IHC. | That diverges from the mainly cytoplasmic tissue profile, although nucleoplasm is an additional ICC-IF location (HPA tissue IHC; HPA ICC-IF). | Check controls and morphology, then score nuclear staining separately from the expected cytoplasmic pattern (standard IHC practice; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Adipocytes stain strongly. | HPA reports adipocytes as not detected; cross-reactivity or background is possible (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). | Compare nearby cell types and a no-primary control before attributing adipocyte color to ALDH3A1 (standard IHC practice). |
| A section has patchy or weak staining despite an intact positive control. | Expression differs among listed tissues and cell types; weak staining cannot be interpreted from the section-wide average (HPA tissue IHC). | Identify the stained cell type, compare it with the corresponding HPA level, and record intensity within that cell population (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). |
| Q: IF/ICC shows membrane or nuclear signal; should tissue IHC be scored the same way? | A: ICC-IF lists plasma membrane and cytosol as main locations and nucleoplasm as additional, while tissue IHC is mainly cytoplasmic (HPA ICC-IF; HPA tissue IHC). | Interpret each application against its own HPA pattern; use the separate IF/ICC guide for that application (HPA ICC-IF; HPA tissue IHC). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Enhanced — Medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression data.). Rows are taken directly from the HPA tissue chart — click any row's HPA link to view the source.
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esophagus | Squamous epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Oral mucosa | Squamous epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Skin | Cells in basal layer | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Stomach | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Epididymis | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bone marrow | Hematopoietic cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Breast | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Use the catalog antibody’s paraffin-section IHC conditions as a starting point, then assess staining by compartment, cell type and controls (datasheet A01121-4; HPA tissue IHC).
The catalog includes human paraffin-section IHC images from liver and rectal cancer tissue, plus IF images from A549 cells (catalog image captions).
A01121-4 has IHC data from human liver cancer tissue and IF data from A549 cells (catalog image captions); A01121-5 and PA2074 have IHC data from human rectal cancer tissue (catalog image captions). A01121-3 has IF data from A549 cells and lists Human, Mouse and Rat reactivity (catalog image caption; catalog reactivity).
Which to pick: For paraffin-section IHC, choose A01121-4 for the human liver cancer example, or A01121-5 or PA2074 for the human rectal cancer examples; each SKU has its own IHC image with EDTA retrieval at pH 8.0 and primary antibody at 2 μg/ml (respective IHC image captions). For IF/ICC, A01121-4 and A01121-3 list both applications and have A549 IF images; A01121-3 is listed as polyclonal (catalog applications; respective IF image captions; A01121-3 catalog dilution text). A01121-3 lists Human, Mouse and Rat reactivity for cross-species planning, while its depicted IF experiment uses A549 cells; the paraffin-section IHC captions do not report a fixative (catalog reactivity; A01121-3 IF image caption; respective IHC image captions).