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- Table of Contents
Plan TCF7L2 paraffin IHC around nuclear staining across tissues (HPA tissue IHC) and the catalog antibody’s documented 1:200 tissue protocol (datasheet A00431-2). This guide covers fixation, antigen retrieval, chromogenic detection and interpretation.
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Nuclear staining across tissues (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Broad nuclear staining, including glandular and glial cells (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet A00431-2) | |
| Positive control | Adrenal gland+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | None in HPA (detected in all 45 tissues); use no-primary + isotype controls |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across paraffin sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Staining may not closely track tissue RNA levels (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Crypt-to-villus expression gradient (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 17 isoforms; epitope coverage needs checking (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody’s IHC-P protocol (datasheet: A00431-2) accompanies four published TCF7L2 paraffin-section methods (PMC3748032; PMC4300120; PMC5946422; PMC5423960).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human glioma tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet A00431-2) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet A00431-2); 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 A00431-2); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet A00431-2) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-TCF7L2, 1:50 recommended; image 1:200 (datasheet A00431-2) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet A00431-2) |
| Detection | HRP-conjugated secondary, DAB chromogen (datasheet A00431-2) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | TCF7L2-positive staining in glandular cells of adrenal gland (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Ubiquitous nuclear expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
TCF7L2 should appear predominantly in nuclei: UniProt reports diffuse nuclear localization with PML nuclear bodies, and HPA describes ubiquitous nuclear tissue staining (UniProt Q9NQB0 subcellular location; HPA tissue IHC: Supported). Look for signal in the cells present in the chosen section, including glandular cells in breast or hematopoietic cells in bone marrow, both reported as high staining (HPA tissue IHC). TCF7L2 has no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q9NQB0 topology).
| Clear nuclear staining in breast glandular cells or bone marrow hematopoietic cells. | This matches the reported high staining in those cell populations and the broadly nuclear tissue profile (HPA tissue IHC). Judge the named cell population and its nuclei; a positive section does not establish that every cell should stain equally. |
| Predominantly membranous or exclusively cytoplasmic staining, with little nuclear signal. | This conflicts with the expected IHC compartment (HPA tissue IHC: ubiquitous nuclear expression; UniProt Q9NQB0 subcellular location). Treat it as a possible staining artefact and reassess specificity; HPA reports cytosol only as an uncertain additional ICC-IF location (HPA subcellular). |
| Strong signal in a cell population that does not match the selected HPA tissue image. | Cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity is possible (general IHC practice). First confirm cell identity and compare the same tissue and compartment; HPA reports low tissue specificity, so staining outside its listed high-staining examples alone is insufficient to call a false positive (HPA tissue IHC). |
| Diffuse staining across nuclei, cytoplasm, and surrounding section, without clear cell boundaries. | Poor separation of signal from background prevents a confident localization call (general IHC practice). Check a control without primary antibody and review blocking, antibody concentration, washes, and detection chemistry; the expected tissue profile is nuclear (HPA tissue IHC). |
| No nuclear signal in an otherwise interpretable, known-positive section. | A negative result in an HPA high-staining cell population warrants a technical check before biological interpretation (HPA tissue IHC). Confirm that the relevant cells are present, then review the antibody's IHC-P validation and the general retrieval and detection workflow (general IHC practice). |
| Tissue and cell selection | HPA describes ubiquitous nuclear expression and low tissue RNA specificity, while listing high staining in specific populations, including breast glandular and bone marrow hematopoietic cells (HPA tissue IHC). Select a documented cell population for a positive comparison; the list is not a set of exclusive expression sites. |
| Strength of tissue evidence | HPA rates the tissue IHC profile Supported and describes medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression (HPA tissue IHC). Use its compartment and cell examples as expectations, then interpret unexpected intensity with controls rather than treating one image as a fixed scoring threshold. |
| Antibody validation and isoforms | CAB013535 has Supported IHC status; HPA038800 has Supported ICC status, with no IHC status supplied for it (HPA antibodies). UniProt lists 17 isoforms (UniProt Q9NQB0 isoforms). The supplied record does not identify either antibody's epitope or establish which isoforms it detects. |
| Processing and topology | UniProt lists one chain spanning residues 1–619, no signal peptide or propeptide, and no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q9NQB0 processing and topology). These annotations support interpreting the nuclear pattern; they do not establish an IHC retrieval condition or a fixation sensitivity. |
| IF/ICC appearance? | For IF/ICC, HPA supports nucleoplasm as the main location and nuclear bodies as an additional location; its additional cytosol assignment is uncertain (HPA subcellular). This is a localization comparison only. Use the separate IF/ICC guide for that application, rather than treating ICC images as an IHC-P protocol. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| The expected cells are present, but their nuclei are unstained. | The selected antibody or detection workflow may not yield an interpretable IHC-P signal (general IHC practice); the HPA high-staining examples make these cells useful checks (HPA tissue IHC). | Verify IHC-P validation for the antibody and run an appropriate positive section; review general retrieval, primary incubation, and detection steps without assuming a TCF7L2-specific retrieval requirement (general IHC practice). |
| Signal is chiefly cytoplasmic or membranous. | Off-target binding or background is possible (general IHC practice). Predominantly nuclear tissue staining is the supported expectation (HPA tissue IHC); ICC-IF cytosol is marked uncertain (HPA subcellular). | Check nuclear counterstain alignment, compare a control without primary antibody, and reassess antibody specificity before scoring nonnuclear signal (general IHC practice). |
| Many structures stain uniformly, including areas outside cells. | Nonspecific background or endogenous detection activity may obscure the nuclear pattern (general IHC practice). | Inspect a control without primary antibody, then review blocking, washes, and the detection system's appropriate endogenous-activity controls (general IHC practice). Score only interpretable cellular signal. |
| An unexpected cell population stains strongly. | Cell identification, cross-reactivity, or endogenous activity may explain the finding (general IHC practice). HPA's low tissue specificity limits conclusions from tissue identity alone (HPA tissue IHC). | Recheck morphology and nuclear localization, compare the matching HPA cell population, and use specificity and detection controls before calling the result aberrant (HPA tissue IHC; general IHC practice). |
| Two antibodies give different staining patterns. | Their application validation differs: CAB013535 is Supported for IHC, whereas HPA038800 is Supported for ICC with no IHC status supplied (HPA antibodies). Their epitope coverage is not supplied. | Interpret the paraffin-section result using IHC-P validation and matched controls. Document each antibody separately; do not infer that their discordance identifies a particular one of the 17 isoforms (HPA antibodies; UniProt Q9NQB0 isoforms). |
| Fine nuclear puncta appear alongside diffuse nuclear signal. | TCF7L2 can localize to a subset of PML nuclear bodies, while its nuclear pattern is also described as diffuse (UniProt Q9NQB0 subcellular location); HPA additionally supports nuclear bodies in ICC-IF (HPA subcellular). | Assess the overall nuclear pattern and control background. Do not require visible puncta for a positive chromogenic IHC call; interpretation of puncta depends on image resolution and appropriate controls (general IHC practice). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Supported — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bone marrow | Hematopoietic cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Breast | Glandular cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bronchus | Respiratory epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None in HPA: TCF7L2 is detected in all 45 scored tissues. Use a no-primary (secondary-only) and an isotype control instead. | ||||
Troubleshoot TCF7L2 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, nuclear localisation, controls and scoring before interpreting biological differences.
Real IHC images show human glioma, lung cancer and colonic cancer, and rat brain (catalog image captions); an ICC image shows HeLa cells (catalog image caption). All three antibodies list human, mouse and rat reactivity (catalog).
A00431-2 has paraffin-section IHC images from human glioma, human lung cancer and rat brain (A00431-2 image captions); M00431 has a paraffin-section IHC image from human colonic cancer (M00431 image caption). A00431-1 has an ICC image of paraformaldehyde-fixed, permeabilised HeLa cells (A00431-1 image caption), and its applications include IF and IHC (catalog).
Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose A00431-2 for its human and rat paraffin-section examples with EDTA retrieval (A00431-2 image captions), or M00431 if a monoclonal antibody is preferred for human colonic cancer paraffin sections (catalog: clone FIB-20; M00431 image caption); the tissue captions do not report the fixative. For IF/ICC, A00431-1 has a HeLa ICC image showing paraformaldehyde fixation and Triton X100 permeabilisation (A00431-1 image caption). For cross-species tissue work, A00431-2 has pictured human and rat IHC examples (A00431-2 image captions); mouse reactivity is listed for all three SKUs (catalog).