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- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic PCBP2 IHC in paraffin sections with the IHC-validated antibody at 2–5 μg/mL (datasheet: A02425-2). Use kidney tubule cells as a high-staining reference and assess signal with HPA’s off-target warning in mind (HPA tissue IHC).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Cytoplasmic in tissue (HPA tissue IHC); nuclear possible (UniProt) | |
| Staining pattern | Cytoplasmic staining; high in kidney tubule cells (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet A02425-2) | |
| Positive control | Bronchus+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Adipose tissue |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across paraffin sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Presumed off-target staining complicates attribution (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | No specific expression inducer reported (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 8 isoforms; epitope coverage is unknown (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody uses heat-mediated EDTA pH 8.0 retrieval (datasheet: A02425-2). The published chromogenic IHC protocols below report PCBP2 staining in melanoma, placental explants, and mouse tissues (PMC10474410; PMC8172583; PMC12914862).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded mouse brain tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet A02425-2) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet A02425-2); verify before use. |
| Sectioning | 4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard) |
| Deparaffinisation | Xylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard) |
| Antigen retrieval | Heat retrieval: EDTA pH 8.0 (datasheet A02425-2); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet A02425-2) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-PCBP2, 2-5μg/ml (datasheet A02425-2) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet A02425-2) |
| Detection | Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet A02425-2) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | PCBP2-positive staining in respiratory epithelial cells of bronchus (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: General cytoplasmic expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
PCBP2 is nuclear and cytoplasmic and may shuttle between them (UniProt Q15366: subcellular location). In paraffin IHC, expect predominantly cytoplasmic staining in responsive cells, including kidney tubular cells, hepatocytes, respiratory epithelial cells and Purkinje cells (HPA: tissue IHC). HPA rates the tissue pattern Approved, while reporting medium agreement with RNA and suspected off-target binding; its staining is therefore a reference pattern, not proof of antibody specificity (HPA: tissue IHC reliability).
| Cytoplasmic staining in kidney tubular cells or hepatocytes, with intact tissue detail and restrained background. | This agrees with the reported general cytoplasmic IHC pattern and High staining in both cell populations (HPA: tissue IHC). Judge the distribution against neighboring structures and a negative reagent control; color alone cannot establish target identity (general IHC practice). |
| Predominantly cell-surface, luminal or extracellular staining, with little intracellular signal. | Those compartments do not match PCBP2's nuclear and cytoplasmic location or the reported cytoplasmic IHC profile (UniProt Q15366: subcellular location; HPA: tissue IHC). Suspect nonspecific deposition or detection artefact first, then reassess with controls (general IHC practice). Nuclear signal alone needs more caution because nuclear PCBP2 is documented (UniProt Q15366: subcellular location). |
| Strong adipocyte staining when expected positive cells on the same run stain poorly. | Adipocytes are Not detected in the supplied HPA tissue IHC profile, whereas kidney tubular cells and hepatocytes are High (HPA: tissue IHC). This mismatch raises concern for cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity; it does not prove either mechanism, especially given HPA's stated off-target caution (HPA: tissue IHC reliability). |
| Uniform brown haze across cells and extracellular space, obscuring cell boundaries. | A field-wide haze is difficult to reconcile with interpretable intracellular staining (HPA: tissue IHC profile). Check the negative reagent control, wash quality and detection background before assigning any cell as positive (general IHC practice). The HPA profile cannot identify which workflow step caused the haze. |
| No convincing staining in kidney tubular cells or hepatocytes despite preserved tissue detail. | Both populations are reported High by HPA, so their absence makes this run uninformative until a positive control and detection steps are checked (HPA: tissue IHC). A blank section alone cannot distinguish low antigen recovery, inadequate antibody activity or a detection failure (general IHC practice). |
| Compartment and assay | HPA describes general cytoplasmic expression in tissue IHC; UniProt lists nucleus and cytoplasm, with possible shuttling (HPA: tissue IHC; UniProt Q15366: subcellular location). Score paraffin IHC against its cytoplasmic reference while recording credible nuclear staining separately. |
| Tissue and cell context | HPA reports High staining in respiratory epithelium, Purkinje cells, kidney tubules, hepatocytes and other listed populations, but Not detected in adipocytes (HPA: tissue IHC). Use a reported High population as a positive comparator; avoid treating every unstained cell as assay failure. |
| Antibody evidence | Two listed antibodies have Approved IHC status, but HPA reports medium agreement with RNA, possible recognition of more than one gene and disregarded presumed off-target binding (HPA: antibody validation; HPA: tissue IHC reliability). Match the actual antibody and controls before interpreting an unexpected pattern. |
| Isoforms and epitope uncertainty | UniProt lists 8 PCBP2 isoforms and three KH domains (UniProt Q15366: isoforms and domains). The supplied evidence gives no antibody epitope or isoform coverage, so differences among sections cannot be assigned to a particular isoform from staining alone. |
| IF/ICC Q: Where should signal appear? | A: HPA supports nucleoplasm and cytosol in ICC-IF and lists images from A-431, U-251MG and U2OS (HPA: subcellular ICC-IF). This answers localization only; IF/ICC preparation and detection belong to its separate guide. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| A reported High control tissue is blank. | A failed run is possible; kidney tubular cells and hepatocytes are reported High (HPA: tissue IHC). | Check the positive control, antibody application and detection reagents, then review retrieval conditions using the catalog antibody's IHC-P instructions (general IHC practice). Do not infer PCBP2-specific fixation sensitivity; none is supplied. |
| All sections show weak, hard-to-score intracellular color. | Low assay signal is possible; HPA's High reference populations should be easier to assess (HPA: tissue IHC). | Confirm that the catalog antibody is used within its documented IHC-P conditions and that controls develop as expected; compare the same cell population across sections (general IHC practice). No dilution is supplied here. |
| Signal appears mainly nuclear. | Nuclear PCBP2 is biologically plausible, although HPA summarizes tissue IHC as generally cytoplasmic (UniProt Q15366: subcellular location; HPA: tissue IHC). | Record nuclear and cytoplasmic scores separately, inspect a reported High control and compare negative reagent controls (general IHC practice). Do not discard nuclear signal solely because the tissue summary emphasizes cytoplasm. |
| Cell surfaces or extracellular material stain strongly. | This distribution conflicts with the documented intracellular locations and HPA's general cytoplasmic IHC pattern (UniProt Q15366: subcellular location; HPA: tissue IHC). | Inspect a negative reagent control and tissue morphology, then review wash and chromogen steps for deposition (general IHC practice). Avoid calling this PCBP2 without convincing intracellular staining. |
| Adipocytes stain as strongly as reported High populations. | Adipocytes are Not detected in HPA tissue IHC; its reliability note also flags presumed off-target binding (HPA: tissue IHC). | Compare a reported High cell population and negative reagent control in the same run; check for endogenous detection activity with appropriate controls (general IHC practice). Treat the adipocyte result as unresolved until corroborated. |
| Diffuse brown background obscures cellular detail. | The pattern prevents comparison with HPA's cell-specific observations; its source does not assign a cause to background (HPA: tissue IHC). | Review blocking, washing, detection incubation and negative reagent controls, then repeat scoring only where cell boundaries are clear (general IHC practice). |
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. Presumed off target binding observed and disregarded.). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronchus | Respiratory epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebellum | Purkinje cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Kidney | Cells in tubules | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Liver | Hepatocytes | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Nasopharynx | Respiratory epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Troubleshoot PCBP2 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, cell and compartment patterns, controls, and scoring before interpreting chromogenic signal.
Anti-PCBP2 antibodies have IHC images from paraffin sections of mouse and rat brain and human ovarian and pancreatic cancer tissue, plus IF images from human PC-3 and Caco-2 cells (catalog image captions).
A02425-2 is listed for IHC and has paraffin-section images from mouse and rat brain and human ovarian and pancreatic cancer tissue (catalog: applications; A02425-2 image captions). A02425-3 and M02425 are listed for IF/ICC, with images from PC-3 and Caco-2 cells, respectively (catalog: applications; A02425-3 and M02425 image captions).
Which to pick: Choose A02425-2 for paraffin-section IHC: its images document EDTA retrieval at pH 8.0, 2 μg/ml primary antibody and DAB detection; the fixative is unreported (A02425-2 image captions). For IF/ICC, choose rabbit A02425-3 or mouse monoclonal M02425 according to the host species needed for your staining panel; each has its own cell image (catalog: host and clone; A02425-3 and M02425 image captions). All three list human, mouse and rat reactivity, but the IF/ICC images show human cells only, while A02425-2 has tissue images from all three species (catalog: reactivity; image captions).