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- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic BRD4 staining in paraffin sections with the IHC-validated M00123 antibody (catalog: M00123). Expect broad nuclear staining (HPA tissue IHC), and compare sections with consistent fixation and appropriate controls (standard IHC practice).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Ubiquitous nuclear staining (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Nuclear staining in adipocytes and glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | Tris-EDTA pH 9.0 HIER, 95–98 °C, 20 min (rule: nuclear antigen) | |
| Positive control | Adipose tissue+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | None in HPA (detected in all 45 tissues); use no-primary + isotype controls |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Broad expression limits tissue-negative controls (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Deacetylation reduces chromatin binding (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 3 isoforms (A, C, B); verify epitope coverage (UniProt) |
Compare the catalog antibody’s IHC-P protocol (datasheet) with published BRD4 staining in heart sections (PMC12203807), breast tumor microarrays (PMC6053709), and gastric carcinoma sections (PMC5458191).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human kidney tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet M00123) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet M00123); verify before use. |
| Sectioning | 4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard) |
| Deparaffinisation | Xylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard) |
| Antigen retrieval | Heat-induced epitope retrieval in Tris-EDTA buffer, pH 9.0, 20 min at 95–98 °C (standard rule: nuclear antigen) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% normal serum of the secondary host, 30 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit monoclonal (clone DBH-2) anti-BRD4, 1:50 (datasheet M00123) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (standard) |
| Detection | HRP-polymer secondary, DAB chromogen 5–10 min (standard) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | BRD4-positive staining in adipocytes of adipose tissue (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Ubiquitous nuclear expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
BRD4 should appear predominantly in nuclei in paraffin-section IHC, consistent with its nuclear and chromosomal localization and lack of a transmembrane segment (UniProt O60885: subcellular location, topology). Expect staining across many cell populations, with high signal reported in several named tissues (HPA: ubiquitous nuclear expression; low tissue specificity). The tissue IHC profile is Supported, reflecting consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression (HPA: tissue IHC reliability).
| Nuclei stain in multiple cell populations, including adipocytes or bone-marrow hematopoietic cells. | This fits the broad nuclear pattern; both named cell populations have High tissue-IHC staining (HPA: adipocytes High; hematopoietic cells High). Compare nuclear signal with the counterstain and assess whether it lies within cells. High is an HPA category, not a required intensity for every nucleus on every slide. |
| Signal is predominantly cytoplasmic or outlines cell membranes while nuclei remain clear. | This conflicts with the expected nuclear localization (UniProt O60885: nucleus, chromosome; HPA: ubiquitous nuclear expression). Treat a dominant nonnuclear pattern as suspect and review the detection controls and antibody conditions before assigning it to BRD4; this record provides no tissue-IHC basis for a membrane pattern. |
| Strong color appears in unexpected cells or acellular areas, while expected nuclei show little signal. | Cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity is possible (standard IHC practice). BRD4 is broadly expressed, so staining in a cell type absent from the HPA examples is not, by itself, evidence of an artefact (UniProt O60885: ubiquitously expressed; HPA: low tissue specificity). Judge compartment, controls, and distribution together. |
| Color spreads across nuclei, cytoplasm, and surrounding tissue with little contrast. | Diffuse background prevents a confident localization call. Excess antibody, incomplete blocking, or detection-system background are general IHC possibilities (standard IHC practice); the supplied UniProt and HPA records do not identify a BRD4-specific cause. Reassess the slide only after a nuclear signal can be distinguished from background. |
| A section expected to contain positive cells has no convincing nuclear stain. | An absent result in adipocytes, adrenal glandular cells, or bone-marrow hematopoietic cells warrants a technical check because HPA reports High staining there (HPA: tissue IHC). Check a known-positive section in the same run before interpreting the sample as BRD4-negative (standard IHC practice). HPA supplies no target-specific fixation-sensitivity claim. |
| Tissue and cell context | HPA describes ubiquitous nuclear expression and low tissue specificity, with High staining in adipocytes, adrenal and appendix glandular cells, bone-marrow hematopoietic cells, bronchial respiratory epithelium, and caudate glia (HPA: tissue IHC). These are useful positive examples; the payload provides no negative tissue or low-staining reference. |
| Nuclear and chromosome localization | BRD4 associates with acetylated chromatin and preferentially localizes to mitotic chromosomes (UniProt O60885: subcellular location). HPA also reports nucleoplasmic localization and mitotic-chromosome localization by ICC-IF (HPA: subcellular). A mitotic nuclear pattern can therefore be compatible with BRD4; tissue-section intensity need not match ICC-IF images. |
| Antibody evidence | The listed antibodies HPA015055, HPA061646, CAB068177, and CAB068178 each have Supported IHC status (HPA: antibody validation). Use the IHC-validated antibody's own conditions for a run; this payload supplies no catalog-antibody dilution or retrieval setting. Supported validation does not make every unexpected staining pattern specific. |
| Isoforms and processing | UniProt lists 3 isoforms—A, C, and B—and one annotated protein chain, residues 1–1362, with no signal peptide or propeptide (UniProt O60885: isoforms, processing). The supplied evidence does not locate the catalog antibody's epitope, so it cannot establish which isoforms that antibody detects. |
| IF/ICC Q: what localization should be expected? | A: Predominantly nucleoplasmic signal, with additional mitotic-chromosome localization (HPA: subcellular ICC-IF; UniProt O60885: nucleus, chromosome). HPA lists ICC-IF images in U-251MG, U2OS, MCF-7, PC-3, and KOLF2.1J (HPA: subcellular). These observations inform localization; they are not an IF/ICC protocol for this IHC page. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| No nuclear signal in a positive-reference section. | A failed IHC run or unsuitable assay conditions are possibilities (standard IHC practice); adipocytes and bone-marrow hematopoietic cells are High examples (HPA: tissue IHC). | Check the positive control, reagent delivery, retrieval, and detection steps together (standard IHC practice). The supplied sources do not establish BRD4-specific retrieval or fixation sensitivity, so do not assign either as the cause without run-specific evidence. |
| Cytoplasm or cell borders dominate the staining. | That distribution conflicts with BRD4's nuclear and chromosomal localization (UniProt O60885: subcellular location; HPA: ubiquitous nuclear expression). | Compare with the nuclear counterstain and a known-positive section; review antibody and detection controls for nonspecific signal (standard IHC practice). Do not score cytoplasmic or membrane color alone as a positive BRD4 result. |
| Color persists in a no-primary-antibody control. | The primary antibody cannot account for color in that control; endogenous detection activity or reagent background may contribute (standard IHC practice). | Review blocking and, for enzyme-based chromogenic detection, the relevant endogenous-enzyme control or quench (standard IHC practice). Reassess BRD4 only after the control background is addressed. |
| Expected nuclei stain, but diffuse color obscures their edges. | High background may reflect assay conditions rather than a change in BRD4 localization (standard IHC practice; UniProt O60885: nucleus). | Review the IHC-validated antibody's recommended conditions, antibody concentration, blocking, and washes (standard IHC practice). Keep a positive reference in the comparison so reducing background does not hide genuine nuclear signal. |
| Only an unfamiliar cell population stains. | Its identity alone cannot establish cross-reactivity: BRD4 is ubiquitously expressed and HPA reports low tissue specificity (UniProt O60885: tissue specificity; HPA: tissue IHC). | Check whether color is nuclear and whether named High populations stain in the same run (HPA: tissue IHC). If expected nuclei remain clear, investigate cross-reactivity and detection background with appropriate controls (standard IHC practice). |
| Mitotic figures show conspicuous chromosome-associated signal. | BRD4 preferentially localizes to mitotic chromosomes (UniProt O60885: subcellular location), also reported as an additional ICC-IF location (HPA: subcellular). | Assess those figures alongside the broader nuclear pattern and control slide. Do not reject a section solely for mitotic signal; if color extends beyond cellular structures, check background using standard IHC controls (standard IHC practice). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Supported — High 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bone marrow | Hematopoietic cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Breast | Adipocytes | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None in HPA: BRD4 is detected in all 45 scored tissues. Use a no-primary (secondary-only) and an isotype control instead. | ||||
Troubleshoot BRD4 chromogenic IHC by checking nuclear localisation, specimen handling and scoring before interpreting differences between samples (UniProt O60885; HPA tissue IHC).
Anti-BRD4 antibodies include paraffin-section IHC data from human kidney and IF/ICC data from PC-3 and MCF-7 cells; all three list human, mouse and rat reactivity (catalog images; catalog reactivity).
M00123 lists IHC and IF applications and shows IHC in paraffin-embedded human kidney (M00123 application list; M00123 IHC caption). A00123-2 shows IF/ICC in PC-3 cells, while A00123-3 shows IF/ICC in MCF-7 cells (A00123-2 and A00123-3 IF captions; catalog application lists).
Which to pick: Choose M00123 for tissue IHC: it is a rabbit monoclonal with a listed 1:50 IHC dilution and an image of paraffin-embedded human kidney; the caption does not report the fixative (M00123 catalog; M00123 IHC caption). For IF/ICC, A00123-2 has a PC-3 image and a listed 5 μg/ml IF dilution, while A00123-3 has an MCF-7 image and reports 5 μg/ml in its IF caption (A00123-2 catalog and IF caption; A00123-3 IF caption). All three list human, mouse and rat reactivity; the cited images demonstrate the stated samples only (catalog reactivity; catalog image captions).