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- Table of Contents
Plan NFKB1 staining in paraffin sections using the observed cytoplasmic and occasional nuclear tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Choose controls and interpret nuclear staining in light of activation-dependent translocation and p105 processing to p50 (UniProt).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | General cytoplasmic staining; nuclear in several tissues (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | High in lung macrophages; cytoplasmic generally, nuclear in some tissues (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | Tris-EDTA pH 9.0 HIER, 95–98 °C, 20 min (rule: nuclear antigen) | |
| Positive control | Bone marrow+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Adipose tissue+4 more · see all |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | A shared epitope may detect both p105 and p50 (UniProt) | |
| Regulation | Activation promotes nuclear translocation (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 3 isoforms; p50 spans aa 1–433, so epitope position matters (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody’s IHC-P protocol is accompanied by three published NFKB1 IHC protocols (PMC11618553; PMC4574027; PMC4724081).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded H. spleen tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet M00283-2) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet M00283-2); 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 | Mouse monoclonal (clone 1298CT792.105.117.133) anti-NFKB1, 1:25 (datasheet M00283-2) |
| 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 | NFKB1-positive staining in hematopoietic cells of bone marrow (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: General cytoplasmic expression. Additional nuclear expression in several tissues. No signal in the no-primary control. |
NFKB1 staining in paraffin sections is generally cytoplasmic, with additional nuclear staining in several tissues (HPA tissue IHC: Enhanced; medium agreement with RNA). Strong examples include lung macrophages, lymph node and tonsil germinal center cells, and bone marrow hematopoietic cells (HPA tissue IHC: High). Cytoplasmic retention and stimulus-dependent nuclear translocation are consistent with NFKB1 biology (UniProt P19838); NFKB1 has no transmembrane segment (UniProt P19838 topology).
| Cytoplasmic staining in lung macrophages or germinal center cells, with nuclear staining in some cells (HPA tissue IHC). | This fits the tissue IHC profile: general cytoplasmic expression with additional nuclear expression in several tissues (HPA tissue IHC). Score nuclear and cytoplasmic signal separately; a nuclear-positive cell need not indicate that every neighboring cell has activated NF-κB (UniProt P19838 function). |
| A strong, sharply membranous or extracellular deposit dominates the section. | That compartment is unsupported for NFKB1: UniProt places it in cytoplasm and nucleus and lists no transmembrane segment (UniProt P19838). Check whether the deposit follows tissue edges or other nonspecific structures before assigning it to NFKB1 (general IHC practice). |
| Strong, widespread staining appears in adipocytes or cardiomyocytes. | Those cells are listed as not detected in the sampled tissues (HPA tissue IHC: adipocytes; cardiomyocytes). Treat unexpected staining as a specificity or endogenous detection activity question, especially if it persists in a no-primary control (general IHC practice); the HPA result is a reference pattern, not proof that every specimen must be negative. |
| A diffuse haze covers positive cells, negative cells, and surrounding tissue. | A uniform haze obscures the cell and compartment pattern expected from HPA tissue IHC (HPA tissue IHC: general cytoplasmic, additional nuclear). Compare a no-primary control and review detection background, blocking, and wash conditions (general IHC practice); haze alone cannot establish NFKB1 expression. |
| No staining is visible in an otherwise interpretable lung macrophage or tonsil germinal center cell area. | These are high-staining reference cells (HPA tissue IHC: High). First confirm that the expected cell population is present, then inspect a run control and the antibody's IHC-P conditions (general IHC practice). A blank section alone cannot distinguish low specimen expression from a failed assay. |
| Cell and tissue context | HPA reports High staining in lung macrophages, bone marrow hematopoietic cells, and lymph node or tonsil germinal center cells, but Not detected in adipocytes and cardiomyocytes (HPA tissue IHC). Compare like cell populations when choosing controls; tissue-wide intensity alone can conceal mixed populations (general IHC practice). |
| p105 processing and antibody epitope | NFKB1 yields full-length p105 and processed p50; p50 comprises residues 1–433, while p105 extends to residue 968 (UniProt P19838). If the catalog antibody's epitope is known, check whether it lies in the shared region before interpreting staining as p50-specific or p105-specific; the supplied record gives no antibody epitope. |
| Validation and interpretation limit | HPA lists two rabbit polyclonal antibodies with Enhanced IHC validation, HPA027305 and CAB004031 (HPA antibodies). Its tissue profile has medium agreement with RNA (HPA tissue IHC). These support a reference pattern but do not identify the molecular form or prove pathway activation in an individual cell (UniProt P19838 function). |
| IF/ICC Q&A: where should signal appear? | HPA ICC-IF places NFKB1 mainly in the nucleoplasm, with additional cytosol (HPA subcellular: supported). This is an IF/ICC localisation reference; for paraffin IHC, use the separate HPA tissue profile of general cytoplasmic staining with additional nuclear staining in several tissues (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Known high-reference cells are blank (HPA tissue IHC: High examples). | The expected cells may be absent from the section, or the staining run may have failed (general IHC practice). | Verify cell identity on the counterstain and check a known-positive run control; then review the catalog antibody's IHC-P instructions and detection steps (general IHC practice). |
| Signal is weak but confined to plausible cells. | HPA reports different levels by cell population, including Low staining in cerebral cortex endothelial cells and thyroid glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC). | Use a High reference population, such as lung macrophages, to assess assay performance; compare equivalent cells and keep exposure or chromogen development consistent (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Nuclear staining is present without obvious cytoplasmic staining. | Nuclear localisation is biologically plausible after release from cytoplasmic inhibition (UniProt P19838); HPA also reports nuclear expression in several tissues (HPA tissue IHC). | Check cell boundaries and the counterstain before scoring compartments; record nuclear and cytoplasmic staining separately, without inferring activation from localisation alone (general IHC practice; UniProt P19838 function). |
| An unexpected membrane-like outline dominates. | A membrane-dominant pattern lacks support from the cytoplasm/nucleus annotations and no-transmembrane topology (UniProt P19838). | Compare the outline with a no-primary control and inspect staining at section edges; seek a repeatable intracellular pattern in HPA High reference cells (general IHC practice; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Broad brown background appears across unrelated structures. | Nonspecific detection or endogenous activity can obscure localisation in chromogenic IHC (general IHC practice). | Examine a no-primary control, review blocking and washes, and assess whether the background tracks tissue rather than identifiable cells (general IHC practice). |
| Strong staining appears in a cell type listed as Not detected. | The HPA category may differ from the specimen, or the signal may be nonspecific; the HPA category alone cannot decide which (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). | Confirm cell identity and compare a no-primary control plus an HPA High reference population; report the discrepancy instead of relabeling the HPA reference pattern (general IHC practice; 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone marrow | Hematopoietic cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Lung | Macrophages | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Lymph node | Germinal center cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Testis | Spermatogonia cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tonsil | Germinal center cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Heart muscle | Cardiomyocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Hippocampus | Glial cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Liver | Cholangiocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Skeletal muscle | Myocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Troubleshoot NFKB1 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, compartment, cell identity and the antibody epitope before scoring chromogenic signal.
The catalog includes NFKB1 antibodies with human tissue IHC images and a U2OS cell IF image (catalog image captions); some antibodies also list mouse and rat reactivity (catalog: M00283, M00283-3).
M00283-2 shows IHC on paraffin-embedded human spleen (M00283-2 image caption), while M00283 shows IHC on paraffin-embedded human kidney (M00283 image caption). M00283-3 shows IHC staining of human prostate carcinoma (M00283-3 image caption); PB9149 shows IF in U2OS cells (PB9149 image caption).
Which to pick: For human paraffin-section IHC, M00283-2 is an option at 1:25 (M00283-2 datasheet; M00283-2 spleen image caption); the caption does not report the fixative (M00283-2 image caption). For IF/ICC, choose PB9149, a human-reactive rabbit polyclonal antibody with a U2OS cell IF image (PB9149 catalog; PB9149 image caption). For planned mouse or rat IHC, consider rabbit monoclonal M00283 or M00283-3 because both list IHC and mouse/rat reactivity (catalog: M00283, M00283-3); their pictured IHC samples are human, and M00283-3’s caption does not report tissue processing or fixative (M00283 and M00283-3 image captions).