DDAH1 / N(G),N(G)-dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 · IHC design guide

Design Immunohistochemistry for DDAH1

Plan chromogenic DDAH1 IHC using cytoplasmic kidney proximal tubule staining as a reference (HPA tissue IHC). This guide covers fixation, antibody titration, controls, and interpretation of the 2 annotated isoforms (UniProt).

Evidence assembled Oct 2026 · For research use; verify linked source records and product datasheet before use
Immunohistochemistry protocol sheet for DDAH1 (IHC for DDAH1): expected localisation Cytoplasmic in most tissues (HPA tissue IHC), antibody PB10000, validated IHC image, and IHC protocol steps
Printable DDAH1 IHC protocol sheet — expected localisation Cytoplasmic in most tissues (HPA tissue IHC), antibody PB10000, controls and protocol steps. Open the full DDAH1 IHC guide →

DDAH1 Immunohistochemistry Experimental Design Guide

Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.

Must know before staining
Expected localisation Cytoplasmic in most tissues (HPA tissue IHC)
Staining pattern Cytoplasmic staining in kidney proximal tubule cell bodies (HPA tissue IHC)
Antigen retrieval Citrate pH 6 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet PB10000)
Positive control ⓘ Adrenal gland+4 more · see all
Negative control ⓘ Adipose tissue+4 more · see all
Important caveats
Reasons your staining may differ from the expected pattern.
Fixation Keep fixation consistent across sections (standard IHC practice; not target-specific)
Caveat Staining and RNA show medium consistency (HPA tissue IHC)
Regulation Expression-inducing cues are unreported (UniProt)
Isoform / epitope 2 isoforms; epitope differences are unspecified (UniProt)
Section 1

Recommended DDAH1 IHC & IF Protocols

The catalog antibody’s IHC-P protocol (datasheet: PB10000) is followed by published DDAH1 staining protocols for rat corpus cavernosum (PMC5245815) and human gastric cancer tissue microarrays (PMC5579338).

Recommended immunohistochemistry (IHC-P) protocol parameters
SampleParaffin-embedded rat brain tissues; fixative not specified (datasheet PB10000)
FixationImage fixative and duration unreported (datasheet PB10000); verify before use.
Sectioning4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard)
DeparaffinisationXylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard)
Antigen retrievalHeat retrieval: Citrate pH 6, 20 min (datasheet PB10000)
Peroxidase block3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard)
Blocking10% goat serum (datasheet PB10000)
Primary antibodyRabbit anti-DDAH1, 0.5-1μg/ml (datasheet PB10000)
Primary incubationOvernight at 4 °C (datasheet PB10000)
DetectionStreptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet PB10000)
CounterstainHematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard)
Expected resultDDAH1-positive staining in glandular cells of adrenal gland (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Cytoplasmic expression in most tissues, including kidney. No signal in the no-primary control.
💡Decision noteStart with heat-mediated citrate pH 6 retrieval (datasheet: PB10000); neither published excerpt specifies a retrieval method (PMC5245815; PMC5579338).
Section 2

What Is the Expected DDAH1 Staining Pattern?

In paraffin-section IHC, expect mainly cytoplasmic DDAH1 staining, especially in kidney proximal tubule cell bodies, glial cells, and selected glandular and respiratory epithelial cells (HPA tissue IHC: Enhanced; medium staining–RNA consistency). UniProt lists no subcellular location or transmembrane segment, so compartment expectations for tissue sections come from HPA staining rather than UniProt topology (UniProt O94760 topology; HPA tissue IHC).

What am I looking at on my slide?
Strong cytoplasmic staining in kidney proximal tubule cell bodies, with recognizable tubular structure.This matches a high-signal reference tissue and cell type (HPA tissue IHC: High in kidney proximal tubules). Score the relevant cells and compartment, not overall section darkness (standard IHC practice). HPA rates its tissue staining evidence Enhanced but reports only medium consistency with RNA expression, so a matching image supports interpretation without proving antibody specificity in a new experiment (HPA tissue IHC).
Cytoplasmic staining in cortical or hippocampal glia, or in bronchial respiratory epithelium.These are additional high-staining examples (HPA tissue IHC: High in cerebral cortex and hippocampal glia; High in bronchial respiratory epithelial cells). The expected positive cell changes with the tissue; staining every cell equally would need scrutiny (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). Compare cell identity, distribution, and negative controls before calling a whole section positive (standard IHC practice).
Predominantly nuclear staining in an IHC section, without the expected cytoplasmic pattern.Treat this as a compartment mismatch and possible artefact (HPA tissue IHC: cytoplasmic expression in most tissues). HPA also reports nucleoli as an additional location in ICC-IF, so a nucleolar IF signal alone cannot establish a nuclear IHC pattern (HPA subcellular ICC-IF). Check the positive tissue, antibody-specific controls, and detection background before assigning a new localisation (standard IHC practice).
Prominent signal in adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, or lymph-node germinal center cells.These cell types are listed as not detected in HPA tissue IHC (HPA tissue IHC: adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, and germinal center cells Not detected). An unexpected signal may reflect cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity, especially if a reagent control also stains (standard IHC practice). It is a reason to investigate, not proof that DDAH1 is absent from every cell in those organs (HPA tissue IHC).
Diffuse chromogen across tissue and spaces, or no staining in kidney proximal tubules.Uniform haze lacks the cell-restricted pattern expected from the HPA examples; first assess background and controls (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). A blank known-positive compartment makes a negative result in a test sample uninterpretable until the run works (HPA tissue IHC: High in kidney proximal tubules; standard IHC practice). HPA staining levels do not identify the failed processing step (HPA tissue IHC).
💡Expected DDAH1 appearanceCall an IHC result concordant when high cytoplasmic staining marks kidney proximal tubule cell bodies or another listed high-staining cell type (HPA tissue IHC); widespread staining of listed not-detected cells or chromogen without cell boundaries is suspect (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice).
How each factor affects the staining
Tissue and cell choiceKidney proximal tubules offer a high-staining comparison, whereas adipocytes and cardiomyocytes are listed as not detected (HPA tissue IHC). Pancreatic exocrine glandular cells have low staining, despite UniProt reporting DDAH1 detection in pancreas (HPA tissue IHC: Low in pancreatic exocrine cells; UniProt O94760 tissue specificity). Select controls by cell type and assay readout (standard IHC practice).
What should IF/ICC show?HPA reports approved main locations at the plasma membrane and in the cytosol, with nucleoli as an additional approved location, from ICC-IF data (HPA subcellular ICC-IF). This is context for interpreting IF/ICC images; the paraffin-section IHC reference remains predominantly cytoplasmic (HPA tissue IHC). Do not require every location in every tissue cell (HPA tissue IHC; HPA subcellular ICC-IF).
Topology and variantsUniProt reports no transmembrane segment or signal peptide and lists 2 isoforms (UniProt O94760 topology, processing, isoforms). These facts do not identify an antibody epitope or establish isoform-specific staining, and they do not explain HPA's ICC-IF plasma-membrane signal (UniProt O94760; HPA subcellular ICC-IF).
Strength and scope of evidenceHPA marks tissue IHC reliability Enhanced, while describing medium consistency between staining and RNA data; its listed antibodies HPA006308 and HPA071064 both have Enhanced IHC status (HPA tissue IHC; HPA antibodies). Apply that confidence to the reported patterns, then assess controls in the actual run (standard IHC practice). Target-specific fixation sensitivity is unreported in the supplied UniProt and HPA records.
Why is my staining missing, weak or wrong?
SituationLikely causeNext action
Kidney control has little or no proximal tubule staining.The expected high-staining cell compartment failed to appear (HPA tissue IHC: High in kidney proximal tubules); the records do not identify a DDAH1-specific cause.Confirm that proximal tubules are present and check primary-antibody application, retrieval conditions, detection reagents, and counterstain against the run record (standard IHC practice). Avoid assigning a negative call to test tissue until the positive control is readable (standard IHC practice).
Chromogen coats many structures or obscures cell boundaries.Diffuse background can arise from nonspecific reagent binding or endogenous enzyme activity in chromogenic IHC (standard IHC practice).Review the no-primary and detection controls; check blocking, washes, antibody concentration, and endogenous activity blocking as appropriate for the detection system (standard IHC practice). Reassess whether staining resolves to HPA-listed cells and cytoplasm (HPA tissue IHC).
Listed not-detected cell types stain strongly.Signal in adipocytes, cardiomyocytes, or germinal center cells conflicts with the HPA tissue examples and may reflect cross-reactivity or detection background (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice).Compare those cells with a same-run positive control and no-primary control; review staining morphology and detection activity before interpreting the unexpected signal (standard IHC practice). Do not turn an HPA ‘Not detected’ entry into a universal absence claim (HPA tissue IHC).
Nuclei dominate the IHC result.A nuclear-dominant IHC pattern conflicts with HPA's predominantly cytoplasmic tissue profile, although nucleoli are an additional ICC-IF location (HPA tissue IHC; HPA subcellular ICC-IF).Check whether chromogen lies in nuclei, overlying cytoplasm, or background; examine a positive tissue and reagent controls under the same detection conditions (standard IHC practice). Report the compartment mismatch if it persists (HPA tissue IHC).
Pancreatic exocrine cells look faint beside kidney proximal tubules.HPA lists pancreatic exocrine glandular cells as Low and kidney proximal tubule cell bodies as High (HPA tissue IHC). UniProt's report of detection in pancreas does not set an IHC intensity threshold (UniProt O94760 tissue specificity).Judge each tissue against its reported cell-level pattern and same-run controls (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). Do not increase detection until a low-staining tissue resembles the high kidney reference (HPA tissue IHC).
IF/ICC shows a membrane or nucleolar signal that seems unlike the IHC slide.The assays have different reported patterns: ICC-IF includes plasma membrane, cytosol, and additional nucleoli, while tissue IHC is predominantly cytoplasmic (HPA subcellular ICC-IF; HPA tissue IHC).Interpret each image against its assay-specific HPA record and its own controls (HPA subcellular ICC-IF; HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). Keep the paraffin-section IHC call tied to tissue cell identity and cytoplasmic distribution (HPA tissue IHC).

Sample controls for DDAH1 IHC & IF

🧪Run adrenal gland first: its glandular cells should stain for DDAH1 (HPA: High in adrenal gland glandular cells). Use adipose tissue as the negative tissue (HPA: Not detected in adipocytes); on the adrenal slide, cells without specific signal should show only background staining, but the supplied HPA row does not identify a particular internal negative cell type.
Positive control tissue: Adrenal gland (Glandular cells, HPA High)
Negative control tissue: Adipose tissue (HPA Not detected)
ICC-IF cell lines (HPA subcellular resource): HPA ICC-IF images show DDAH1 in A-431, U2OS, with annotated localisation: Plasma membrane (approved), Cytosol (approved) (HPA subcellular).
Technical controls: Include a no-primary (secondary-only) slide, a host-species- and immunoglobulin-class-matched rabbit isotype control, and DDAH1-knockout tissue if available (selected IHC caption: rabbit primary antibody). For chromogenic detection, block endogenous peroxidase and check for endogenous biotin signal because the selected protocol uses a biotinylated secondary and streptavidin–biotin detection (selected IHC caption: SABC with DAB).
⚠️Feasibility: A target-specific fixation window or fixation effect is unreported, and the fixative in the selected paraffin-section caption is unreported (selected IHC caption: fixative not stated). The documented IHC conditions use citrate retrieval at pH 6 for 20 minutes; whether retrieval is required under other conditions is unreported (selected IHC caption: citrate retrieval). The supplied evidence does not establish that frozen sections or IF are easier; assess adrenal background during optimization, especially with the biotin-based detection in the selected IHC protocol (selected IHC caption: SABC with DAB).

HPA tissue IHC evidence for DDAH1

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.

Positive expression · recommended positive controls

TissueCell typeLevelEvidenceSource
Adrenal gland Glandular cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Bronchus Respiratory epithelial cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Cerebral cortex Glial cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Fallopian tube Glandular cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Gallbladder Glandular cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →

Undetected expression · recommended negative controls

TissueCell typeLevelEvidenceSource
Adipose tissue Adipocytes Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Bone marrow Hematopoietic cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Cerebellum Cells in granular layer Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Cervix Squamous epithelial cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Endometrium Cells in endometrial stroma Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Section 3

Advanced DDAH1 IHC Tips

Troubleshoot DDAH1 staining by checking retrieval, tissue preservation, cellular distribution and controls before comparing chromogenic IHC results across sections.

How should I adjust retrieval when DDAH1 staining is weak in paraffin sections?
Start with heat-mediated citrate retrieval at pH 6 for 20 minutes (datasheet PB10000). The catalog antibody detected DDAH1 in a paraffin-embedded rat brain section after this treatment, followed by 1 μg/ml primary antibody overnight at 4°C (datasheet PB10000). If signal remains weak, check section adhesion, heating consistency and primary-antibody coverage before changing retrieval conditions (standard IHC practice). Compare any adjusted retrieval condition with the original on adjacent sections, because stronger DAB signal alone cannot establish improved specificity (standard IHC practice). Use a kidney section with proximal tubules as a reference for the expected cellular pattern (HPA: high in kidney proximal-tubule cell bodies).
Could fixation explain weak or uneven DDAH1 staining?
The selected paraffin-section caption does not state a fixative, so DDAH1 sensitivity to fixation cannot be determined from that experiment (datasheet PB10000). Record fixation conditions and section age for each specimen, then compare similarly processed sections before attributing a weak result to antigen loss (standard IHC practice). Examine morphology and staining across the section; uneven preservation can complicate interpretation even when retrieval and antibody incubation are consistent (standard IHC practice). Keep the validated pH 6 citrate retrieval and 20-minute heating step constant while assessing processing differences (datasheet PB10000). Do not infer fixation tolerance from tissue staining patterns or protein topology (HPA: tissue IHC profile; UniProt O94760: no transmembrane segment).
What cellular distribution should I expect for DDAH1 in chromogenic IHC?
Assess DAB signal primarily in the cytoplasmic region of appropriately identified cells; tissue IHC reports cytoplasmic expression in most tissues, including kidney (HPA: tissue IHC profile). Kidney proximal-tubule cell bodies and cerebral-cortex glial cells provide documented examples of high staining (HPA: high in kidney proximal tubules and cerebral-cortex glia). Cell imaging also places DDAH1 at the plasma membrane and in the cytosol, with additional nucleolar localisation, but those observations come from ICC/IF rather than the section-level IHC profile (HPA: subcellular ICC/IF). If a section appears exclusively nuclear or confined to luminal debris, inspect morphology and controls before assigning that pattern to DDAH1 (standard IHC practice).
Can the DDAH1 epitope or splice isoform change my IHC interpretation?
DDAH1 has 2 annotated isoforms, but the supplied product caption does not identify the antibody epitope or establish which isoforms it recognises (UniProt O94760: isoforms 1 and 2; datasheet PB10000). Check the antibody's documented immunogen or epitope, when available, before making an isoform-specific claim (standard IHC practice). The record lists N-terminal acetylation at residue 2 and S-nitrosylation at residues 222 and 274; their effects on this antibody's staining are untested here (UniProt O94760: modified residues). Treat staining as DDAH1-associated until epitope mapping or a suitable specificity control supports a narrower interpretation (standard IHC practice).
How should I investigate a DDAH1 IHC pattern using multiplex IF?
Use IF as a follow-up to the chromogenic section result, pairing DDAH1 with a marker for the cell population being assessed, such as a validated proximal-tubule marker in kidney (HPA: high in kidney proximal-tubule cell bodies; standard IF practice). Select a red or far-red fluorophore after checking the specimen's autofluorescence and include single-stain controls to assess channel bleed-through (standard IF practice). Permeabilise when testing a cytosolic or nucleolar epitope; interpret staining without permeabilisation only if the antibody's epitope accessibility supports that approach (HPA: cytosol and nucleoli in ICC/IF; standard IF practice). The IHC caption establishes a paraffin-section chromogenic procedure, not an IF fixation or permeabilisation protocol (datasheet PB10000).
What should I check when DDAH1 DAB staining is diffuse?
Check a no-primary control for signal generated by the detection system, and confirm that endogenous peroxidase was blocked before DAB development (standard chromogenic IHC practice). The selected procedure used 10% goat serum blocking, a biotinylated secondary antibody and an avidin-biotin detection complex, so evaluate nonspecific secondary binding and endogenous biotin where background persists (datasheet PB10000; standard IHC practice). Keep section washing and DAB development consistent while titrating the primary antibody around the documented 1 μg/ml condition (datasheet PB10000; standard IHC practice). Diffuse colour should be judged against cell morphology and negative controls before it is called cytoplasmic DDAH1 (HPA: cytoplasmic tissue IHC profile; standard IHC practice).
How can I compare DDAH1 staining across paraffin sections? ⚠ ANSWER MARKED FOR VERIFICATION
Define the cell population and region before scoring, then use an H-score or percentage of positive cells for comparable chromogenic sections (standard IHC practice). In kidney, score proximal-tubule cell bodies separately from other structures because that is the documented high-staining population (HPA: high in kidney proximal-tubule cell bodies). Normalise positive counts to the total number of eligible cells, or report positive-cell density per mm² of viable tissue when area-based sampling is more appropriate (standard IHC practice). Hold retrieval, antibody incubation, detection and image-analysis thresholds constant, and exclude folds, edges and necrotic areas from the measured region (datasheet PB10000: retrieval and incubation; standard IHC practice).
How do I distinguish true DDAH1 staining from artefact?
A convincing result follows cellular morphology and the expected cytoplasmic tissue pattern, such as staining in kidney proximal-tubule cell bodies or cerebral-cortex glia (HPA: tissue IHC profile and high-staining cells). Treat staining restricted to section edges, folds or necrotic material as suspect and compare it with an adjacent, well-preserved area (standard IHC practice). An exclusively nuclear pattern needs additional scrutiny: ICC/IF reports additional nucleolar localisation, but that does not establish diffuse nuclear staining in chromogenic sections (HPA: subcellular ICC/IF; standard IHC practice). Check no-primary and detection controls for endogenous enzyme or detection-system signal before interpreting DAB deposits as DDAH1 (standard chromogenic IHC practice).
Boster reagents

Best DDAH1 / N(G),N(G)-dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1 IHC Antibodies

Anti-DDAH1 image evidence covers paraffin brain sections from rat, mouse, and human, plus IF in U20S cells (PB10000 image captions).

Real IHC data IHC analysis of DDAH1 using anti-DDAH1 antibody (PB10000). DDAH1 was detected in paraffin-embedded section of rat brain tissues. Heat mediated antigen retrieval was performed in citrate buffer (pH6, epitope retrieval solution) for 20 mins. The tissue section was blocked with 10% goat serum. The tissue section was then incubated with 1μg/ml rabbit anti-DDAH1 Antibody (PB10000) overnight at 4°C. Biotinylated goat anti-rabbit IgG was used as secondary antibody and incubated for 30 minutes at 37°C. The tissue section was developed using Strepavidin-Biotin-Complex (SABC)(Catalog # SA1022) with DAB as the chromogen.
Anti-DDAH1 Antibody ®
Cat # PB10000

PB10000 has IHC images from paraffin brain sections of rat, mouse, and human, and an IF image from U20S cells (PB10000 image captions). M03136 lists IHC and IF/ICC applications and human, monkey, mouse, and rat reactivity, but has no image captions in the payload (M03136 catalog).

Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose PB10000 because its own captions show paraffin brain sections from three species; the fixative is unreported (PB10000 IHC image captions). For IF/ICC, PB10000 has a U20S cell IF image, while M03136 lists IF/ICC without image evidence in the payload (PB10000 IF image caption; M03136 catalog). For the broadest listed species coverage, choose rabbit monoclonal M03136, clone AEAG-4, which includes monkey alongside human, mouse, and rat (M03136 catalog).

Each figure is that product's own IHC / IF validation image from its datasheet.

References

  1. UniProt Consortium. UniProt entry O94760 (DDAH1_HUMAN, N(G),N(G)-dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase 1).
  2. Human Protein Atlas. DDAH1 tissue IHC expression (reliability: Enhanced).
  3. Human Protein Atlas. DDAH1 subcellular location (ICC-IF): Mainly localized to the plasma membrane and cytosol. In addition localized to the nucleoli..
  4. Human Protein Atlas. DDAH1 antibody validation summary (2 antibodies).
  5. Dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase-2 deficiency promotes vascular regeneration and attenuates pathological angiogenesis. Experimental eye research 2016 — PMC4912010.
  6. DDAH1 Promotes Cisplatin Chemoresistance in Patients with Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma via the EGFR-JAK2-STAT3 Pathway. Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) 2025 — PMC12376576.
  7. Involvement of DDAH/ADMA/NOS/cGMP and COX-2/PTGIS/cAMP Pathways in Human Tissue Kallikrein 1 Protecting Erectile Function in Aged Rats. PloS one 2017 — PMC5245815.
  8. DDAH1 mediates gastric cancer cell invasion and metastasis via Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Molecular oncology 2017 — PMC5579338.
  9. PubMed PMID:9874257 — UniProt-cited evidence.
  10. PubMed PMID:10493931 — UniProt-cited evidence.
  11. PubMed PMID:17974005 — UniProt-cited evidence.