LPCAT2 / Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 · IHC design guide

Design Immunohistochemistry for LPCAT2

Plan chromogenic LPCAT2 IHC on paraffin sections using thyroid glandular cells as a strong positive reference (HPA tissue IHC). Compare cytoplasmic staining with bronchial respiratory epithelium, where staining was not detected (HPA tissue IHC), and start the IHC-validated antibody at 2 μg/ml (datasheet A07471-2).

Evidence assembled Oct 2026 · For research use; verify linked source records and product datasheet before use
Immunohistochemistry protocol sheet for LPCAT2 (IHC for LPCAT2): expected localisation Cytoplasmic tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC), antibody A07471-2, validated IHC image, and IHC protocol steps
Printable LPCAT2 IHC protocol sheet — expected localisation Cytoplasmic tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC), antibody A07471-2, controls and protocol steps. Open the full LPCAT2 IHC guide →

LPCAT2 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 tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC)
Staining pattern Strong cytoplasmic staining in thyroid glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC)
Antigen retrieval EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet A07471-2)
Positive control ⓘ Epididymis+4 more · see all
Negative control ⓘ Bronchus+4 more · see all
Important caveats
Reasons your staining may differ from the expected pattern.
Fixation Keep fixation conditions consistent across sections (standard IHC practice; not target-specific)
Caveat Lung macrophages may confound epithelial scoring (HPA tissue IHC)
Regulation Staining regulation unreported (UniProt)
Isoform / epitope 2 isoforms; no extracellular domain; epitope unspecified (UniProt)
Section 1

Recommended LPCAT2 IHC & IF Protocols

The catalog antibody's IHC-P protocol uses heat-mediated EDTA retrieval (datasheet A07471-2). Published LPCAT2 IHC protocols cover colorectal metastases, frozen sections, and spinal cord (PMC5778070; PMC5396354; PMC5471516).

Recommended immunohistochemistry (IHC-P) protocol parameters
SampleParaffin-embedded human glioma tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet A07471-2)
FixationImage fixative and duration unreported (datasheet A07471-2); verify before use.
Sectioning4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard)
DeparaffinisationXylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard)
Antigen retrievalHeat retrieval: EDTA pH 8.0 (datasheet A07471-2); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard)
Peroxidase block3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard)
Blocking10% goat serum (datasheet A07471-2)
Primary antibodyRabbit anti-LPCAT2, 2-5 μg/ml (datasheet A07471-2)
Primary incubationOvernight at 4 °C (datasheet A07471-2)
DetectionHRP-conjugated secondary, DAB chromogen (datasheet A07471-2)
CounterstainHematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard)
Expected resultLPCAT2-positive staining in glandular cells of epididymis (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Cytoplasmic expression in several different tissues, highest in thyroid gland. No signal in the no-primary control.
💡Decision noteStart with EDTA pH 8.0 heat-mediated retrieval for the catalog antibody (datasheet A07471-2). For published protocols, follow the stated sample preparation (PMC5778070; PMC5396354; PMC5471516).
Section 2

What Is the Expected LPCAT2 Staining Pattern?

LPCAT2 is an ER, Golgi and cell-membrane protein also associated with lipid droplets; it has one transmembrane segment, residues 58–78 (UniProt Q7L5N7 topology and subcellular location). In tissue IHC, expect mainly cytoplasmic staining, especially in thyroid and epididymal glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA rates the tissue profile Enhanced, with medium agreement between staining and RNA data and external verification pending (HPA tissue IHC: reliability).

What am I looking at on my slide?
Cytoplasmic staining is strong in thyroid or epididymal glandular cells; nuclei remain distinct.This matches HPA's highest listed glandular-cell staining and cytoplasmic tissue profile (HPA tissue IHC: High; profile). At chromogenic IHC resolution, an ER-associated signal may appear broadly cytoplasmic rather than resolve into individual organelles (UniProt Q7L5N7: ER membrane; standard IHC interpretation).
Signal is predominantly nuclear, with little convincing cytoplasmic staining in the same cells.A nuclear-only pattern conflicts with the reported membrane and lipid-droplet locations (UniProt Q7L5N7 subcellular location; HPA subcellular: ER and lipid droplets). Treat it as suspect; compare the positive tissue and a no-primary control before scoring it as LPCAT2.
Strong staining appears in cells HPA lists as undetected, such as bronchial respiratory epithelium.HPA reports LPCAT2 as not detected in those cells (HPA tissue IHC: bronchus). Cross-reactivity or detection-system activity is possible, but this comparison alone does not prove either cause; check the cell identity, control slide and detection controls.
Color is spread across extracellular spaces or many unrelated cell types without clear cell boundaries.That distribution is difficult to reconcile with HPA's cell-specific cytoplasmic profile (HPA tissue IHC: profile). Consider background from the staining workflow, then assess a no-primary control and repeat with appropriate blocking and washes (standard IHC practice).
Thyroid glandular cells show no signal in an otherwise interpretable section.This is discordant with HPA's High thyroid glandular-cell staining (HPA tissue IHC: thyroid gland). First confirm that the section contains intact glandular cells; then review antibody dilution, retrieval, detection and positive-control performance (standard paraffin IHC practice).
💡Expected LPCAT2 appearanceCall a result consistent when glandular cells in thyroid or epididymis show clear, predominantly cytoplasmic staining at the High HPA level; isolated nuclear staining or equally strong staining in an HPA-undetected cell population is suspect (HPA tissue IHC: profile, thyroid, epididymis, bronchus; UniProt Q7L5N7 subcellular location).
How each factor affects the staining
Compartment and topologyLPCAT2 has a transmembrane segment at 58–78, with residues 1–57 cytoplasmic and 79–544 lumenal (UniProt Q7L5N7 topology). These annotations help assess localisation; they do not identify the antibody's epitope or predict retrieval needs.
Choice of tissue referenceThyroid and epididymal glandular cells are listed as High; bone-marrow hematopoietic cells and lung macrophages are Medium (HPA tissue IHC). A weaker signal in a Medium group need not match the intensity of a High glandular control.
Strength of the staining referenceHPA calls the tissue profile Enhanced, while reporting medium staining–RNA consistency and pending external verification (HPA tissue IHC: reliability). HPA007891 is IHC Enhanced; HPA008433 is IHC Supported (HPA antibodies). Treat a discordant result as a finding to investigate.
Isoform coverageTwo LPCAT2 isoforms are listed (UniProt Q7L5N7: isoforms 1 and 2). The supplied record gives no antibody epitope or isoform-specific staining data, so isoform coverage cannot explain a positive or negative section from this evidence alone.
Why is my staining missing, weak or wrong?
SituationLikely causeNext action
No thyroid glandular-cell signal in the positive control.The result conflicts with the High reference pattern (HPA tissue IHC: thyroid gland); the cause is not established by HPA.Check section integrity and glandular-cell presence, then verify dilution, antigen retrieval and detection against the catalog antibody's IHC-P instructions (standard paraffin IHC practice).
The whole section develops a diffuse chromogenic haze.Background may reflect blocking, washes or the detection system (standard IHC practice); it is not the cell-specific HPA profile (HPA tissue IHC: profile).Review a no-primary control, blocking and washes. If enzyme-based detection is used, check the relevant endogenous-activity control (standard IHC practice).
Only nuclei stain strongly.Nuclear-only staining is discordant with the listed ER, other membrane and lipid-droplet locations (UniProt Q7L5N7 subcellular location).Compare cytoplasm and nuclei in the positive tissue, inspect the no-primary control and avoid scoring nuclear-only color as confirmed LPCAT2.
Bronchial respiratory epithelium stains strongly.That cell population is listed as not detected (HPA tissue IHC: bronchus); cross-reactivity or detection background remains possible.Verify the stained cell type and compare a no-primary control with a thyroid or epididymal glandular positive control (HPA tissue IHC: High).
Bone marrow or lung appears weaker than thyroid.HPA lists bone-marrow hematopoietic cells and lung macrophages as Medium, versus High thyroid glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC).Score each named cell population against its own reference level. Do not require a Medium population to match a High control (HPA tissue IHC).
IF/ICC Q&A: What pattern would support the IHC localisation?HPA places LPCAT2 mainly in the ER, with additional lipid-droplet localisation in ICC-IF (HPA subcellular: supported).Look for ER-associated fluorescence with possible lipid-droplet signal in an IF/ICC experiment; interpret that imaging evidence separately from paraffin chromogenic IHC (HPA subcellular; standard microscopy practice).

Sample controls for LPCAT2 IHC & IF

🧪Run epididymis first and expect glandular cells to stain (HPA: High in epididymis glandular cells); use bronchus respiratory epithelial cells as the negative tissue (HPA: Not detected in bronchus respiratory epithelial cells). On the positive slide, cells independently confirmed as negative should show counterstain and background only, without specific DAB signal (standard IHC practice).
Positive control tissue: Epididymis (Glandular cells, HPA High)
Negative control tissue: Bronchus (HPA Not detected)
ICC-IF cell lines (HPA subcellular resource): HPA ICC-IF images show LPCAT2 in A-431, U-251MG, U2OS, RPTEC/TERT1, hTERT-RPE1 (serum starved), with annotated localisation: Endoplasmic reticulum (supported) (HPA subcellular).
Technical controls: Include a no-primary, secondary-only control, a concentration-matched rabbit isotype control, and LPCAT2 knockout tissue as a biological negative (caption: rabbit primary antibody; standard IHC practice). Quench endogenous peroxidase and inspect the epididymis section for background signal before scoring DAB staining (standard chromogenic IHC practice).
⚠️Feasibility: A target-specific fixation window or fixation effect is unreported, and the selected A07471-2 paraffin-section caption does not state the fixative (selected-SKU caption). That caption uses heat retrieval in EDTA at pH 8.0, but does not establish that this retrieval condition is required (selected-SKU caption). No matched evidence establishes whether frozen sections or IF are easier; IF can assess the reported endoplasmic reticulum and lipid-droplet distribution (HPA: supported subcellular locations), while epididymis slides should be checked for background before scoring glandular staining (standard IHC practice).

HPA tissue IHC evidence for LPCAT2

Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Enhanced — Medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression data. Pending external verification.). 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
Epididymis Glandular cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Thyroid gland Glandular cells High Protein (IHC) HPA →
Bone marrow Hematopoietic cells Medium Protein (IHC) HPA →
Cerebral cortex Neuronal cells Medium Protein (IHC) HPA →
Duodenum Endocrine cells Medium Protein (IHC) HPA →

Undetected expression · recommended negative controls

TissueCell typeLevelEvidenceSource
Bronchus Respiratory epithelial cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Cervix Glandular cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Esophagus Squamous epithelial cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Fallopian tube Glandular cells Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Kidney Cells in glomeruli Not detected Protein (IHC) HPA →
Section 3

Advanced LPCAT2 IHC Tips

Troubleshoot LPCAT2 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, cell identity, subcellular pattern, and matched controls before interpreting chromogenic signal.

Which retrieval condition should I start with for LPCAT2 in paraffin sections?
Start with heat-mediated retrieval in EDTA at pH 8.0 (datasheet A07471-2). The paraffin-section glioma example used that condition before overnight incubation with 2 μg/ml primary antibody at 4°C (datasheet A07471-2). If staining is weak, compare retrieval duration or a second buffer on adjacent sections while keeping antibody concentration and detection constant (standard IHC practice). Include a known positive tissue, such as thyroid glandular cells, and inspect morphology because excessive heating can damage sections (HPA: High in thyroid glandular cells; standard IHC practice). Record the retrieval condition alongside signal and tissue integrity before selecting a routine setting (standard IHC practice).
How should I troubleshoot weak LPCAT2 staining when fixation history is uncertain?
The selected paraffin-section caption does not report a fixative, so LPCAT2 sensitivity to fixation in this IHC assay is unknown (datasheet A07471-2). Record the fixative and processing history for each specimen, then compare sections processed alike before changing retrieval or antibody concentration (standard IHC practice). Run an established positive control, such as thyroid glandular cells, in the same staining batch to check whether the assay worked (HPA: High in thyroid glandular cells; standard IHC practice). If only some blocks fail, assess preservation and processing records before assigning a target-specific cause (standard IHC practice). Do not infer fixation tolerance from staining distribution or membrane topology (HPA: tissue IHC; UniProt Q7L5N7 topology).
Where should credible LPCAT2 staining appear in chromogenic IHC?
Look for cytoplasmic staining in the relevant cells, with a pattern compatible with membrane-associated organelles rather than isolated nuclear signal (HPA: cytoplasmic tissue expression; UniProt Q7L5N7 localisation). LPCAT2 is annotated at the endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, cell membrane, and lipid droplets (UniProt Q7L5N7 localisation). Cell imaging supports the endoplasmic reticulum as its main location and lipid droplets as an additional location, although a DAB section cannot establish organelle identity by itself (HPA: subcellular localisation; standard IHC practice). Compare staining with cell morphology and a known positive compartment, such as thyroid glandular cells (HPA: High in thyroid glandular cells). Check any purely nuclear or section-wide diffuse signal against controls before scoring it as LPCAT2 (standard IHC practice).
Could epitope position or isoforms explain inconsistent LPCAT2 staining?
LPCAT2 has 2 annotated isoforms, but the supplied antibody caption does not map its epitope or establish isoform coverage (UniProt Q7L5N7 isoforms; datasheet A07471-2). Its annotated transmembrane segment spans residues 58–78, with residues 1–57 cytoplasmic and 79–544 lumenal (UniProt Q7L5N7 topology). That orientation makes epitope accessibility a reasonable troubleshooting consideration, but it cannot identify which isoform or membrane side this antibody recognizes (UniProt Q7L5N7 topology; datasheet A07471-2). Check epitope documentation if available, then compare retrieval conditions on adjacent sections using the same detection settings (standard IHC practice). Avoid interpreting a changed staining pattern as isoform-specific without independent epitope and isoform evidence (standard IHC practice).
How can I use IF to investigate an ambiguous LPCAT2 IHC pattern?
Use IF as a separate investigation of cell identity and subcellular distribution; the paraffin IHC caption supplies no IF fixation or staining validation (datasheet A07471-2). In lung, multiplex LPCAT2 with a macrophage marker such as CD68 to test whether the signal occurs in the expected cell population (HPA: Medium in lung macrophages; standard IF practice). Choose a far-red fluorophore after checking the specimen's autofluorescence, and include single-stain and no-primary controls (standard IF practice). Match permeabilisation to the antibody epitope: access to a lumenal epitope may require membrane permeabilisation, whereas the epitope location for this antibody is unreported (UniProt Q7L5N7 topology; datasheet A07471-2). Assess any organelle pattern against ER and lipid-droplet references (HPA: subcellular localisation; standard IF practice).
What should I check when LPCAT2 DAB staining is widespread?
First examine a no-primary control and verify the peroxidase-blocking step, since endogenous enzyme activity can create chromogenic background (standard IHC practice). The selected paraffin example used a peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibody and DAB, with 10% goat serum block and 2 μg/ml primary antibody (datasheet A07471-2). Compare a shorter primary incubation or lower concentration against the documented overnight, 4°C condition while retaining a positive control (datasheet A07471-2; standard IHC practice). Inspect edge staining, necrosis, precipitate, and uneven counterstain before calling weak diffuse color positive (standard IHC practice). Expect cell-associated cytoplasmic signal in suitable tissue rather than uniform deposition across every structure (HPA: cytoplasmic tissue expression; standard IHC practice).
How should I score LPCAT2 IHC across heterogeneous cell populations? ⚠ ANSWER MARKED FOR VERIFICATION
Define the cell population and viable analysis area before scoring, then apply identical imaging and DAB thresholds across cases (standard IHC practice). For thyroid sections, score glandular cells separately from neighboring structures because HPA reports high staining in glandular cells (HPA: High in thyroid glandular cells). Record percent positive cells and intensity, or calculate an H-score from 0–300 using the percentages of weak, moderate, and strong cells (standard IHC practice). For sparse populations such as lung macrophages, report positive cells per mm² and normalise to the same viable tissue area or total macrophage count across samples (HPA: Medium in lung macrophages; standard IHC practice). Exclude necrotic and edge regions consistently (standard IHC practice).
How can I distinguish true LPCAT2 signal from IHC artefact?
A credible result follows cell identity and cytoplasmic distribution: thyroid glandular cells show high staining, while lung macrophages show medium staining in the supplied tissue survey (HPA: tissue IHC). Endoplasmic reticulum and lipid-droplet localisation provide context, but a DAB deposit alone cannot prove either organelle (HPA: subcellular localisation; standard IHC practice). Treat isolated nuclear staining, edge-only color, necrotic deposits, or color retained in a no-primary control as reasons to investigate artefact (HPA: cytoplasmic tissue expression; standard IHC practice). Check endogenous peroxidase blocking when widespread DAB persists, and compare the same run's positive and negative controls (standard IHC practice). Interpret a negative specimen cautiously because the tissue survey has medium RNA-staining consistency and awaits external verification (HPA: Enhanced reliability description).
Boster reagents

Best LPCAT2 / Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2 IHC Antibodies

Both catalog antibodies have human paraffin-section IHC images (catalog image captions) and list Human, Mouse, and Rat reactivity (catalog applications/reactivity); neither provides IF images or an IF dilution (catalog IF fields).

Real IHC data IHC analysis of LPCAT2 using anti-LPCAT2 antibody (A07471-2). LPCAT2 was detected in a paraffin-embedded section of human glioma tissue. Heat mediated antigen retrieval was performed in EDTA buffer (pH 8.0, epitope retrieval solution). The tissue section was blocked with 10% goat serum. The tissue section was then incubated with 2 μg/ml rabbit anti-LPCAT2 Antibody (A07471-2) overnight at 4°C. Peroxidase Conjugated Goat Anti-rabbit IgG was used as secondary antibody and incubated for 30 minutes at 37°C. The tissue section was developed using HRP Conjugated Rabbit IgG Super Vision Assay Kit (Catalog # SV0002) with DAB as the chromogen.
Anti-LPCAT2 Antibody ®
Cat # A07471-2
Real IHC data Immunohistochemical analysis of paraffin-embedded human Gastric adenocarcinoma. 1, Antibody was diluted at 1:200(4° overnight). 2, Tris-EDTA,pH9.0 was used for antigen retrieval. 3,Secondary antibody was diluted at 1:200(room temperature, 45min).
Anti-LPCAT2/Acyltransferase Like 1 Antibody
Cat # A07471-1

A07471-2 shows chromogenic IHC in paraffin-embedded human glioma and lung cancer sections (A07471-2 image captions); its catalog lists IHC for Human and general reactivity with Human, Mouse, and Rat (A07471-2 catalog). A07471-1 shows IHC in a paraffin-embedded human gastric adenocarcinoma section (A07471-1 image caption) and lists IHC plus Human, Mouse, and Rat reactivity (A07471-1 catalog).

Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose A07471-2 when its documented EDTA pH 8.0 retrieval and 2 μg/ml primary incubation suit the study (A07471-2 image caption); A07471-1 provides a separate paraffin-section example using Tris-EDTA pH 9.0 and a 1:200 primary dilution (A07471-1 image caption). Neither SKU lists IF/ICC or provides an IF image or dilution, so neither has catalog-supported IF/ICC conditions (catalog applications/IF fields). For cross-species planning, both list Human, Mouse, and Rat reactivity (catalog reactivity), but the supplied IHC images show human tissue only (image captions); A07471-1 is polyclonal (A07471-1 dilution data), A07471-2 has no stated clonality (A07471-2 catalog), and neither caption reports the tissue fixative (image captions).

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

References

  1. UniProt Consortium. UniProt entry Q7L5N7 (PCAT2_HUMAN, Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2).
  2. Human Protein Atlas. LPCAT2 tissue IHC expression (reliability: Enhanced).
  3. Human Protein Atlas. LPCAT2 subcellular location (ICC-IF): Mainly localized to the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition localized to the lipid droplets..
  4. Human Protein Atlas. LPCAT2 antibody validation summary (2 antibodies).
  5. Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 2-mediated lipid droplet production supports colorectal cancer chemoresistance. Nature communications 2018 — PMC5778070.
  6. Lipid zonation and phospholipid remodeling in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 2017 — PMC5396354.
  7. The prognostic value of the GPAT/AGPAT gene family in hepatocellular carcinoma and its role in the tumor immune microenvironment. Frontiers in immunology 2023 — PMC9950581.
  8. Relief from neuropathic pain by blocking of the platelet-activating factor-pain loop. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 2017 — PMC5471516.
  9. PubMed PMID:17182612 — UniProt-cited evidence.
  10. PubMed PMID:14702039 — UniProt-cited evidence.
  11. PubMed PMID:17974005 — UniProt-cited evidence.