This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website.
- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic TFRC IHC in paraffin sections using placental trophoblasts or bone marrow hematopoietic cells as positive controls (HPA tissue IHC). Score membranous and cytoplasmic staining by cell type (HPA tissue IHC).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Cytoplasmic and membranous staining (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Strong in trophoblasts and marrow cells; membranous/cytoplasmic (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | Citrate pH 6 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet PB9233) | |
| 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); Matched tissue-IHC evidence does not establish the fixation claim. Validate the specimen-specific method before use. (selected-SKU IHC image PB9233) | |
| Caveat | Secreted variant may complicate RNA–staining comparisons (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Expression regulation not annotated (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | No isoforms listed; serum form lacks cytoplasmic epitopes (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody's IHC-P protocol (datasheet: PB9233) is accompanied by two published paraffin-section TFRC protocols (PMC11045412; PMC11379720).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human placenta tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet PB9233) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet PB9233); verify before use. |
| Sectioning | 4–5 µm sections on charged slides (standard) |
| Deparaffinisation | Xylene, graded ethanol series to water (standard) |
| Antigen retrieval | Heat retrieval: Citrate pH 6, 20 min (datasheet PB9233) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet PB9233) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-TFRC, 0.5-1μg/ml (datasheet PB9233) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet PB9233) |
| Detection | Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet PB9233) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | TFRC-positive staining in hematopoietic cells of bone marrow (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Cytoplasmic and membranous expression in most tissues, highly abundant in placental trophoblasts and bone marrow cells. No signal in the no-primary control. |
TFRC is a cell membrane receptor with a cytoplasmic segment at residues 1–67 and an extracellular segment at 89–760 (UniProt P02786 topology). In IHC, expect cytoplasmic and membranous staining, especially in placental trophoblastic cells, bone marrow hematopoietic cells, and lung macrophages (HPA tissue IHC: Enhanced reliability; High in these cell populations).
| Membranous staining with cytoplasmic signal in the expected cells. | This matches the reported tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Compare cells within the section: placental trophoblastic cells, bone marrow hematopoietic cells, and lung macrophages have High staining (HPA tissue IHC). Cytoplasmic signal can reflect TFRC trafficking through endosomes (UniProt P02786 function). |
| Predominantly nuclear staining, with little membrane or cytoplasmic signal. | Nuclear staining alone conflicts with TFRC cell membrane localization (UniProt P02786 subcellular location) and the reported tissue IHC pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Treat it as suspect; assess morphology, negative controls, and an independently validated antibody before assigning it to TFRC (general IHC practice). |
| Strong staining in cells expected to be undetected, such as adipocytes. | Adipocytes are reported as Not detected (HPA tissue IHC). Check cell identity before calling the result discordant. If staining remains in the same cells, consider antibody cross-reactivity or endogenous chromogen-generating activity and compare negative controls (general IHC practice). |
| Diffuse staining across tissue structures without a clear cellular pattern. | An even haze is difficult to reconcile with the reported cell-selective High and Not detected observations (HPA tissue IHC). Examine a no-primary control and staining outside tissue, then reassess blocking, washes, and detection conditions (general IHC practice). |
| No staining in placental trophoblastic cells or bone marrow hematopoietic cells. | Both populations are reported High (HPA tissue IHC), so an absent signal warrants a run check. Confirm the expected cells are present, compare a concurrently stained positive section, and review antibody, retrieval, and detection conditions (general IHC practice). |
| Cellular distribution | HPA reports cytoplasmic and membranous expression in most tissues, with particularly abundant staining in placental trophoblastic and bone marrow cells (HPA tissue IHC). Its Low tissue RNA specificity does not mean every cell stains equally (HPA tissue IHC). Score the relevant cell population, not whole-section color. |
| Receptor topology and trafficking | TFRC has one membrane-spanning segment at residues 68–88 (UniProt P02786 topology). Ligand-bound receptor enters endosomes and recycles to the surface (UniProt P02786 function), supporting a membrane-plus-cytoplasmic interpretation. Topology alone does not establish which epitope a particular antibody recognizes. |
| Processing and circulating form | UniProt lists a full-length 1–760 chain and a serum form spanning 101–760 (UniProt P02786 processing). Secreted protein can complicate a simple RNA-to-tissue-staining comparison (HPA tissue IHC reliability description); extracellular color alone does not identify its source. |
| Antibody evidence | The tissue profile has Enhanced reliability, with medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression (HPA tissue IHC). Two listed antibodies, HPA028598 and CAB000153, each have Enhanced IHC validation (HPA antibody validation). This supports comparison of patterns, without guaranteeing a particular catalog antibody's specificity. |
| IF/ICC Q: Should the same compartment pattern appear in cultured cells? | A: Endosomes and lysosomes are the supported main ICC-IF locations (HPA subcellular). That intracellular pattern fits receptor cycling (UniProt P02786 function). Interpret fluorescence using the separate IF/ICC guide; an IHC tissue result does not establish an IF staining protocol. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Positive-control section lacks staining. | A missed cell population or a run-level reagent, retrieval, or detection problem is possible (general IHC practice). | Verify that placental trophoblastic cells or bone marrow hematopoietic cells are present; both are High (HPA tissue IHC). Check a concurrently stained positive section and the run records (general IHC practice). |
| Signal is nuclear-only. | This conflicts with reported cell membrane localization (UniProt P02786 subcellular location) and cytoplasmic/membranous tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC). | Inspect morphology and no-primary controls, then compare an independently validated antibody if available (general IHC practice; HPA antibody validation). |
| Adipocytes stain strongly. | Adipocytes are Not detected (HPA tissue IHC); cell misidentification, cross-reactivity, or endogenous detection activity may explain the result (general IHC practice). | Confirm cell identity, examine a no-primary control, and check detection blocking before scoring adipocytes as TFRC-positive (general IHC practice). |
| Background obscures cell borders. | Nonspecific binding, incomplete blocking, or insufficient washing can raise chromogenic background (general IHC practice). | Compare a no-primary control, optimize blocking and washes, and judge whether expected cells retain a distinct membranous/cytoplasmic pattern (general IHC practice; HPA tissue IHC). |
| A reportedly negative tissue contains some stained cells. | HPA's Not detected calls refer to named cell populations; other cells in a section can differ (HPA tissue IHC). | Identify the stained cells before judging the result. Compare the specified population—for example, skeletal muscle myocytes, reported Not detected (HPA tissue IHC)—with controls (general IHC practice). |
| IHC shows cytoplasmic signal while ICC-IF shows puncta. | Tissue IHC reports cytoplasmic and membranous expression (HPA tissue IHC); ICC-IF places TFRC mainly in endosomes and lysosomes (HPA subcellular). | Interpret each assay in its own cellular context and compare the compartment assignments; do not score punctate intracellular signal as a contradiction by itself (HPA tissue IHC; HPA subcellular). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Enhanced — Medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression data. At least one protein variant secreted, tissue location of RNA and protein might differ and correlation is complex.). 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 → |
| Placenta | Trophoblastic cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Adrenal gland | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Salivary gland | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Seminal vesicle | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Skeletal muscle | Myocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Spleen | Cells in red pulp | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Use the catalog antibody’s paraffin-section IHC evidence alongside TFRC topology and tissue patterns to troubleshoot staining and interpret chromogenic signal.
Validated anti-TFRC antibodies have IHC images from human placenta, kidney, and brain and mouse and rat kidney; IF images cover A431 cells and human placenta (catalog image captions).
PB9233 shows paraffin-section IHC in human placenta and IF in A431 cells and human placenta (PB9233 image captions); M00591-1 shows paraffin-section IHC in human placenta (M00591-1 IHC caption). M00591-4 shows IHC in human kidney and placenta and mouse and rat kidney (M00591-4 IHC captions); A00591S24 shows phospho-Ser24 IHC in paraffin-embedded human brain with phosphopeptide blocking (A00591S24 IHC caption).
Which to pick: For human tissue IHC, PB9233 shows paraffin placenta after citrate retrieval at pH 6, while monoclonal M00591-1 shows paraffin placenta after EDTA retrieval at pH 8; neither caption reports the fixative (PB9233 and M00591-1 IHC captions; M00591-1 catalog). For IF/ICC, choose PB9233: both applications are listed, and its IF images show A431 cells and human placenta (PB9233 catalog and IF captions). For cross-species tissue IHC, choose monoclonal M00591-4, whose IHC images cover human, mouse, and rat kidney; its captions do not report the fixative (M00591-4 catalog and IHC captions).