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- Table of Contents
Plan paraffin SMARCA2 IHC around nuclear staining, using breast glandular cells as a high-staining reference (HPA tissue IHC). Start the IHC-validated antibody at 2–5 μg/ml (datasheet A01888-3) and score staining by cell type (standard IHC practice).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Nuclear staining in tissue (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Widespread nuclear staining across cell types (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet A01888-3) | |
| Positive control | Bone marrow+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Soft tissue |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | High hematopoietic-cell signal may confound bulk scoring (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Broad tissue expression (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Isoform / epitope | Two isoforms, Long and Short; epitope coverage unknown (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody uses EDTA pH 8.0 retrieval (datasheet: A01888-3). The published IHC protocols below cover lung, ovarian, and pancreatic tumors (PMC12439815; PMC4697871; PMC11585460).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human appendix adenocarcinoma tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet A01888-3) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet A01888-3); 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 A01888-3); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet A01888-3) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-SMARCA2, 2-5 μg/ml (datasheet A01888-3) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet A01888-3) |
| Detection | HRP-conjugated secondary, DAB chromogen (datasheet A01888-3) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | SMARCA2-positive staining in hematopoietic cells of bone marrow (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Ubiquitous nuclear expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
SMARCA2 is a nuclear chromatin-remodeling protein with no transmembrane segment (UniProt P51531). In paraffin-section IHC, expect staining chiefly in nuclei across many cell types: HPA describes ubiquitous nuclear expression, with high staining in several specified populations (HPA tissue IHC). The tissue profile has Enhanced reliability, reflecting consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression (HPA tissue IHC).
| Distinct nuclear chromogen in breast glandular cells, bone-marrow hematopoietic cells, or caudate neurons. | This matches the expected compartment (UniProt P51531; HPA tissue IHC). HPA reports High staining in each named population; assess nuclei within the relevant cell population rather than assigning one intensity to every cell in the section (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Predominantly cytoplasmic or membranous chromogen, with little nuclear staining. | Treat this as a questionable IHC result: the expected tissue pattern is nuclear (HPA tissue IHC; UniProt P51531). Review morphology, background, and detection controls before calling it SMARCA2. HPA reports uncertain additional plasma-membrane and vesicle locations in ICC-IF; those observations do not establish a dominant membranous IHC pattern (HPA subcellular). |
| Strong apparent staining in soft-tissue peripheral nerve while nearby expected nuclear staining is absent. | HPA lists peripheral nerve in soft tissue as Not detected (HPA tissue IHC). Investigate cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity (general IHC practice). Because HPA describes broadly distributed nuclear expression, judge the identified cell population and staining compartment rather than treating an entire tissue as negative (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Haze or chromogen deposited broadly across nuclei, cytoplasm, and extracellular areas. | Diffuse staining that ignores cell boundaries and the expected nuclear compartment cannot by itself establish SMARCA2 positivity (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). Assess a detection-only control and local tissue background; blocking, washes, and chromogen development are general workflow variables (general IHC practice). |
| No nuclear signal in a section containing identifiable breast glandular cells or bone-marrow hematopoietic cells. | Those populations are reported as High by HPA, so a blank result warrants a technical check (HPA tissue IHC). Confirm that the expected cells are present, then check the IHC-validated antibody and detection run (general IHC practice). A blank slide alone does not establish biological absence. |
| Tissue and cell population | HPA reports High staining in breast glandular cells, cerebral-cortex glia, and several other listed populations; adrenal glandular cells are Low, and soft-tissue peripheral nerve is Not detected (HPA tissue IHC). Use the specific cell population when interpreting intensity. |
| Antibody evidence | HPA lists IHC as Supported for HPA029981 and Enhanced for CAB037276 (HPA antibodies). These are antibody-specific validation labels; confirm which antibody was used before applying either label to a slide. The tissue-profile reliability is separately Enhanced (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Isoforms and epitope | UniProt lists Long and Short isoforms (UniProt P51531). The supplied records do not locate the catalog antibody's epitope or establish whether it recognizes both isoforms. Interpret a weak result against antibody documentation and a known-positive tissue, without assigning an isoform-specific staining pattern. |
| IF/ICC: where should signal appear? | HPA supports the nucleoplasm as the main location in ICC-IF images (HPA subcellular). Vesicle and plasma-membrane locations are marked uncertain, so do not use them as the primary positive criterion (HPA subcellular). IF/ICC interpretation belongs with its own guide page. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Expected positive population has no nuclear chromogen. | The cells may be absent from the section, or the staining or detection run may have failed (general IHC practice). | Identify the cells on the counterstain; compare a tissue with HPA-reported High staining, then review antibody dilution, retrieval, and detection against the validated IHC workflow (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Signal is mainly cytoplasmic or at cell borders. | This conflicts with the expected nuclear IHC distribution (UniProt P51531; HPA tissue IHC). | Check nuclear morphology and a detection-only control; repeat with the IHC-validated antibody if the compartment remains inconsistent (general IHC practice). Do not promote uncertain ICC-IF membrane localization to an IHC acceptance rule (HPA subcellular). |
| Soft-tissue peripheral nerve appears strongly positive. | The identified population is reported Not detected by HPA; cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity is possible (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). | Verify the cell identity and nuclear location, inspect a detection-only control, and compare the result with an HPA-listed positive population (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Chromogen covers much of the section as diffuse background. | Non-specific binding, incomplete washes, or excessive chromogen development can obscure compartments (general IHC practice). | Inspect controls and review blocking, wash steps, detection reagent, and development time under the established IHC workflow (general IHC practice). Score only interpretable nuclei. |
| Staining is weak in adrenal glandular cells. | HPA reports this population as Low (HPA tissue IHC). | Check a separate HPA-listed High population before changing assay conditions; compare nuclear staining within the same identified cell type and avoid treating low intensity alone as run failure (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Results differ between antibodies or staining runs. | HPA reports different IHC validation levels for HPA029981 and CAB037276; the supplied records do not establish a shared epitope or identical isoform recognition (HPA antibodies; UniProt P51531). | Record the antibody identity, apply its validated IHC workflow consistently, and compare nuclear staining in the same HPA-listed positive cell population (HPA antibodies; HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Enhanced — High 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 → |
| Breast | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Caudate | Neuronal cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebellum | Cells in granular layer | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebral cortex | Glial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soft tissue | Peripheral nerve | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Troubleshoot chromogenic SMARCA2 staining by checking nuclear localisation, retrieval and controls before comparing signal across tissue regions.
A01888-3 has human paraffin-section IHC images (catalog: IHC captions); all three have human A549-cell IF images (catalog: IF captions); A01888-3 also lists mouse and rat reactivity (catalog: reactivity).
A01888-3 shows IHC in human appendix adenocarcinoma, breast cancer, colon adenocarcinoma and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma paraffin sections, plus IF in A549 cells (catalog: A01888-3 image captions). M01888 (clone 3G3) and M01888-1 (clone 4E8) each show IF in A549 cells and list IF/ICC, but do not list IHC (catalog: applications and IF captions).
Which to pick: Choose A01888-3 for human paraffin-section chromogenic IHC: its own caption reports EDTA pH 8.0 heat retrieval, 2 μg/ml primary antibody and HRP/DAB detection; the fixative is unreported (catalog: A01888-3 IHC caption). For human IF/ICC, choose M01888 or M01888-1, which are mouse monoclonals with their own A549-cell IF images (catalog: hosts, clones, applications and IF captions). For mouse or rat samples, A01888-3 is the only listed reactive option; its documented IHC images are from human paraffin sections (catalog: reactivity and A01888-3 IHC captions).