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- Table of Contents
Plan CTBP1 staining in paraffin sections around the general nuclear pattern reported in tissue (HPA tissue IHC). This guide covers fixation consistency, antibody selection, chromogenic detection and interpretation of possible cross-reactivity (HPA tissue IHC).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Nuclear staining (HPA tissue IHC); cytoplasm also annotated (UniProt) | |
| Staining pattern | General nuclear staining in tissue cells (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | Citrate pH 6 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet PB9425) | |
| Positive control | Adrenal gland+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 | Antibody staining may reflect more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Expressed in germinal center B cells (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | Two isoforms; epitope differences are unknown (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody uses citrate pH 6 retrieval (datasheet: PB9425). Published IHC methods for skin and lung tissue provide additional protocol details (PMC4537778; PMC6549098).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded Mouse Thymus tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet PB9425) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet PB9425); verify before use. |
| Sectioning | 4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard) |
| Deparaffinisation | Xylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard) |
| Antigen retrieval | Heat retrieval: Citrate pH 6, 20 min (datasheet PB9425) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet PB9425) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-CTBP1, 0.5-1μg/ml (datasheet PB9425) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet PB9425) |
| Detection | Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet PB9425) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | CTBP1-positive staining in glandular cells of adrenal gland (HPA tissue IHC: Medium). HPA tissue profile: General nuclear expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
In paraffin-section IHC, expect predominantly nuclear staining in sampled glandular, epithelial, hematopoietic and glial cells (HPA tissue IHC: general nuclear expression; medium staining in the listed cell types). A cytoplasmic component is biologically plausible (UniProt Q13363: nucleus and cytoplasm). CTBP1 has no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q13363: topology). Interpret the pattern with caution: HPA rates tissue IHC Approved, reports medium agreement with RNA, and warns that the staining may represent protein from more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC).
| Nuclear chromogen in glandular cells of adrenal gland or appendix, or respiratory epithelial cells of bronchus. | This matches the reported medium staining and general nuclear profile (HPA tissue IHC: adrenal gland, appendix, bronchus). Score the cells and compartment, while retaining HPA's warning that the antibody may detect protein from more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Strong staining confined to cell borders, luminal material or extracellular space, with little nuclear staining. | That distribution departs from the general nuclear tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC) and the nucleus/cytoplasm annotation (UniProt Q13363). Consider nonspecific deposition or detection artefact; review a matched negative control before assigning the signal to CTBP1. |
| Prominent signal in a cell population outside the reported pattern, especially with weak staining in expected cells. | Check cell identity and controls before calling it CTBP1. The sampled HPA tissue entries identify specific stained cell types, and the IHC profile cautions that the antibody may recognize protein from more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC). Endogenous detection activity is another possible explanation for unexpected chromogen. |
| Diffuse chromogen across tissue, including areas without a clear cellular or nuclear pattern. | This obscures the expected nuclear distribution (HPA tissue IHC). Background can arise from detection reagents, incomplete blocking or excess antibody in a general IHC workflow; compare negative controls and examine whether signal remains confined to identifiable cells. |
| No discernible nuclear staining in adrenal glandular cells or bone-marrow hematopoietic cells. | Those cells showed medium staining in HPA's sampled sections (HPA tissue IHC: adrenal gland; bone marrow), so an absent result merits a run-level check. Medium is an observed level, not a guarantee that every section or staining run will be positive. |
| Where should the IHC signal be scored? | Prioritize nuclei: HPA describes general nuclear expression in tissue (HPA tissue IHC). A cytoplasmic component can be considered in context because UniProt also annotates cytoplasmic localization (UniProt Q13363); compartment alone cannot resolve the antibody's stated cross-gene caution (HPA tissue IHC). |
| How should tissue choice affect interpretation? | Adrenal glandular, bronchial respiratory epithelial and bone-marrow hematopoietic cells each showed medium staining in sampled tissue (HPA tissue IHC). Thyroid and salivary glandular cells were low, not negative, in the supplied profile (HPA tissue IHC); avoid using a low-staining tissue as proof of antibody specificity. |
| What does the antibody validation establish? | The listed antibodies are IHC Approved (HPA antibodies: HPA018987, HPA044971, CAB004217). HPA also reports medium agreement with RNA and possible detection of protein from more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC). An expected pattern therefore supports interpretation but does not establish exclusive CTBP1 detection. |
| Does the protein annotation suggest a surface or secreted pattern? | UniProt lists no transmembrane segment, signal peptide or propeptide and annotates a 1–440 chain (UniProt Q13363: topology and processing). Treat a predominantly membrane-bound or extracellular pattern as a reason to inspect specificity and detection controls, alongside the HPA nuclear tissue profile (HPA tissue IHC). |
| IF/ICC Q&A: where should fluorescence appear? | HPA reports enhanced nucleoplasmic localization in ICC-IF (HPA subcellular). That supports a nuclear expectation when reading IF images; it does not supply an IF protocol here. Tissue IHC remains a separate observation with Approved reliability and a cross-gene caution (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Expected nuclei are unstained in an HPA-listed medium-staining tissue. | The run may have insufficient signal; a sampled medium HPA result is not a universal guarantee (HPA tissue IHC). | Confirm that tissue and nuclei are intact, then check the IHC-validated antibody, retrieval and chromogen steps against the assay's established controls. Reassess with a documented positive section; do not infer CTBP1 absence from one failed run. |
| Color covers most of the section without a clear cellular pattern. | Nonspecific background or endogenous detection activity can obscure the general nuclear profile (HPA tissue IHC). | Compare no-primary and detection controls. Review blocking, washes and antibody concentration as general chromogenic IHC variables; score only interpretable cellular staining after background is controlled. |
| Only membranes or extracellular material are strongly colored. | The location conflicts with general nuclear tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC) and the nucleus/cytoplasm annotation (UniProt Q13363). | Inspect morphology and negative controls for edge deposits or nonspecific chromogen. Seek reproducible nuclear staining in an HPA-listed cell population before treating the result as target-associated. |
| Unexpected cells stain more strongly than the sampled HPA cell population. | Cell identification may be uncertain, or the signal may reflect cross-reactivity or endogenous activity; HPA warns of possible protein detection from more than one gene (HPA tissue IHC). | Identify the stained cells on the counterstained section and compare detection controls. Record the compartment and cell type rather than assigning all positive chromogen to CTBP1. |
| Low-staining thyroid or salivary glandular cells show faint color. | Faint staining may be compatible with the supplied low levels (HPA tissue IHC: thyroid gland; salivary gland). | Compare cells and background within the section. Use an HPA-listed medium-staining population to assess the run; do not label low-level color a false positive solely because that tissue was listed as low. |
| IHC looks nuclear, but an IF image appears differently distributed. | The methods have distinct observations: general nuclear tissue IHC and enhanced nucleoplasmic ICC-IF localization (HPA tissue IHC; HPA subcellular). | Interpret each preparation with its own controls and cell identification. Check whether IF signal truly lies outside nuclei before treating the results as discordant; do not transfer an IF protocol from this IHC section. |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Approved — Medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression data. Caution, targets protein from more than one gene.). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bone marrow | Hematopoietic cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bronchus | Respiratory epithelial cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Caudate | Glial cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None in HPA: CTBP1 is detected in all 45 scored tissues. Use a no-primary (secondary-only) and an isotype control instead. | ||||
Troubleshoot CTBP1 staining in paraffin section chromogenic IHC by checking retrieval, compartment, antibody specificity, and scoring consistency.
CTBP1 antibodies have IHC images from human, mouse and rat paraffin sections, plus IF images from cells and paraffin sections (catalog image captions).
PB9425 has IHC images from mouse thymus, rat spleen and human tonsil, and IF images from cells and human and rat tissue sections (PB9425 image captions). PA1570 has IHC images from rat brain and human colon paraffin sections (PA1570 image captions).
Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose PA1570 when its rat brain or human colon examples match your sample (PA1570 IHC image captions); the captions do not report the fixative. For IF/ICC, choose PB9425, which lists both applications and has cell and tissue IF images (PB9425 catalog applications and IF image captions). For work across human, mouse and rat, both SKUs list reactivity with all three species; PB9425 has paraffin-section IHC images for each, using citrate retrieval in its own captions (catalog reactivity; PB9425 IHC image captions).