This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic IHC on paraffin sections around the cytoplasmic tissue pattern reported for NLRP3 (HPA tissue IHC). Use the staining controls and scoring guidance to interpret a tissue profile whose reliability is uncertain (HPA tissue IHC).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Cytoplasmic tissue staining; organelle association is a molecular expectation (HPA tissue IHC; UniProt) | |
| Staining pattern | Cytoplasmic staining in several tissues, including bone marrow (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | Tris-EDTA pH 9.0 HIER, 95–98 °C, 20 min (rule: nuclear antigen) | |
| Positive control | Adrenal gland+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Adipose tissue+4 more · see all |
| Fixation | Keep tissue fixation consistent (standard IHC practice; not target-specific); Matched tissue-IHC evidence does not establish the fixation claim. Validate the specimen-specific method before use. (selected-SKU IHC image M00034) | |
| Caveat | Tissue staining has low consistency with RNA expression (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | LPS-treated granulocytes express NLRP3 (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | Six isoforms; verify that the antibody epitope is shared (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody’s IHC-P protocol is accompanied by three published NLRP3 IHC protocols for ovary, intestinal tissue, and liver sections (PMC6842944; PMC12720632; PMC5331985).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human lung carcinoma tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet M00034) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet M00034); 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 FBD-14) anti-NLRP3, 1:50-1:200 (datasheet M00034) |
| 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 | NLRP3-positive staining in glandular cells of adrenal gland (HPA tissue IHC: Medium). HPA tissue profile: Cytoplasmic expression in several tissues including bone marrow. No signal in the no-primary control. |
NLRP3 is mainly cytosolic in resting macrophages and can associate with organelle membranes; it has no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q96P20 localization and topology). In paraffin sections, expect cytoplasmic staining in appropriate cells, including macrophages and some epithelial cells (UniProt Q96P20 tissue specificity; HPA tissue IHC). Treat tissue patterns cautiously: HPA rates the IHC evidence Uncertain because antibody staining and RNA expression have low consistency (HPA tissue IHC).
| Cytoplasmic staining in cells with macrophage morphology, or in selected epithelial cells. | This fits the predominant macrophage expression and mainly cytosolic resting location reported by UniProt. Epithelial staining can also fit the record: HPA reports medium staining in bronchial respiratory epithelium and cervical squamous epithelium. Identify the stained cell type before scoring; the HPA tissue pattern remains Uncertain (UniProt Q96P20 tissue specificity and localization; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Punctate cytoplasmic staining, or staining concentrated near a subset of intracellular structures. | Organelle-associated or concentrated signal is biologically plausible: UniProt places resting NLRP3 on endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondrial and Golgi membranes, and describes redistribution during activation. A punctum alone cannot establish inflammasome activation in a chromogenic section; assess cell identity and staining controls before interpreting its significance (UniProt Q96P20 localization; general IHC interpretation). |
| Predominantly nuclear staining across many cells, with little cytoplasmic signal. | Check for an artefact or nonspecific signal before assigning this as the general tissue pattern. UniProt describes mainly cytosolic resting macrophage NLRP3, but also reports nuclear localization in Th2 helper T cells, so nuclear staining is not categorically impossible. Interpretation depends on cell identity and context (UniProt Q96P20 localization). |
| Strong staining in a cell population recorded as not detected, or diffuse color across the section. | Consider cross-reactivity, endogenous detection activity or background. For example, HPA records adipocytes and cardiomyocytes as Not detected; those entries are useful comparisons, not definitive exclusions, given HPA's Uncertain IHC reliability. Color outside recognizable cells also argues for a technical background check (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| No signal in a section expected to contain NLRP3-expressing cells. | First confirm that the expected cells are present: UniProt reports predominant macrophage expression and very weak monocyte protein expression. A blank slide may reflect low target abundance or an IHC workflow problem; it does not by itself overturn those expression records. Compare with a processed positive tissue section and detection controls (UniProt Q96P20 tissue specificity; general IHC practice). |
| Cell population and tissue context | UniProt reports predominant macrophage expression, weak monocyte protein expression and protein in selected epithelia. HPA reports medium staining in several epithelial populations, but calls its overall IHC reliability Uncertain. Score identified cell populations rather than treating every stained cell in a tissue as equivalent evidence (UniProt Q96P20 tissue specificity; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Resting state and activation | UniProt describes resting macrophage NLRP3 as mainly cytosolic and organelle-associated; activation can redistribute it through the microtubule organizing center to dispersed trans-Golgi vesicles. The record does not establish a diagnostic chromogenic punctum pattern, so use morphology and appropriate independent evidence before calling activation from NLRP3 staining alone (UniProt Q96P20 localization and function). |
| Antibody validation | HPA lists antibody HPA012878 as Uncertain for IHC and gives the tissue profile Uncertain reliability because staining and RNA expression have low consistency. Treat agreement with an HPA example as supportive rather than definitive; compare cell identity and controls when interpreting an unexpected positive (HPA antibodies; HPA tissue IHC). |
| IF/ICC Q: What pattern can this page support? | A: UniProt supports mainly cytosolic resting macrophage localization and context-dependent redistribution. HPA supplies no main ICC-IF location and no cell-line ICC-IF images, so it provides no image-based IF pattern to confirm here. This IHC section does not specify an IF protocol (UniProt Q96P20 localization; HPA subcellular ICC-IF). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| The entire section has weak brown haze. | Nonspecific background or endogenous detection activity can obscure cell-associated staining (general chromogenic IHC practice). | Review the no-primary control, blocking and wash steps, and detection chemistry. Judge any remaining signal by recognizable cells and compartments; HPA describes a cytoplasmic tissue profile, albeit with Uncertain reliability (general IHC practice; HPA tissue IHC). |
| Most cells show nuclear-only staining. | The distribution conflicts with the mainly cytosolic resting macrophage location, though UniProt allows nuclear NLRP3 in Th2 cells (UniProt Q96P20 localization). | Identify the stained population and compare controls before calling artefact. If the pattern is broad and lacks a plausible Th2 context, review primary-antibody specificity and detection background (UniProt Q96P20 localization; general IHC practice). |
| An expected positive section is blank. | Expected cells may be absent or scarce, or a general staining step may have failed; UniProt reports weak monocyte protein expression (UniProt Q96P20 tissue specificity; general IHC practice). | Confirm cell composition, then check the positive control, antibody application, retrieval procedure and detection reagents according to the selected IHC workflow. Do not assign an NLRP3-specific retrieval requirement from these sources (general IHC practice). |
| Adipocytes or cardiomyocytes stain strongly. | HPA records these cell types as Not detected, making strong signal unexpected, while its overall IHC reliability remains Uncertain (HPA tissue IHC). | Verify cell identification and compare no-primary and independent staining controls. Investigate background or cross-reactivity before reporting NLRP3 in those cells; an HPA not-detected entry alone cannot prove absence (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Only small puncta appear in otherwise negative cells. | UniProt describes NLRP3 redistribution with activation, but puncta by themselves do not establish an active inflammasome in IHC (UniProt Q96P20 localization; general IHC interpretation). | Check whether puncta are intracellular and confined to plausible cell types, then compare section controls. Reserve an activation claim for additional evidence beyond this NLRP3 pattern (UniProt Q96P20 localization; general IHC interpretation). |
| A medium-staining epithelial site gives variable results between sections. | HPA's epithelial staining observations have Uncertain reliability, and differing cell composition can affect the observed pattern (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC interpretation). | Compare the same identified epithelial population across sections and review the processed positive control. Report the observed compartment and intensity with the HPA reliability caveat, without inferring a target-specific fixation effect (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Uncertain — Low 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bronchus | Respiratory epithelial cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebral cortex | Neuronal cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cervix | Squamous epithelial cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Caudate | Glial cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebellum | Cells in granular layer | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Fallopian tube | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Heart muscle | Cardiomyocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Troubleshoot NLRP3 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, cell identity, signal location and controls before comparing samples.
Anti-NLRP3 antibodies have IHC images from paraffin-embedded human lung carcinoma and rat kidney tissue, plus IF data from Raw264.7 cells (catalog image captions). Listed reactivity covers human, mouse, and rat (catalog reactivity).
M00034 lists IHC and IF/ICC, with images of paraffin-embedded human lung carcinoma by IHC and Raw264.7 cells by IF (catalog applications and image captions). M00034-1 lists IHC and IF, with an IHC image of rat kidney tissue (catalog applications and image caption).
Which to pick: Choose M00034 for human paraffin-section IHC or IF/ICC: it is a human-reactive rabbit monoclonal with those listed applications and corresponding images (catalog reactivity, applications and image captions). Choose M00034-1 for work spanning human, mouse, or rat: it is a rabbit monoclonal listed for IHC and IF, with an IHC image from rat kidney tissue (catalog reactivity, applications and image caption). The M00034 caption specifies paraffin embedding but no fixative; the M00034-1 caption reports neither processing method nor fixative (catalog IHC image captions).