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- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic USP7 IHC in paraffin sections around mainly nuclear tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC). Compare a medium-positive glandular compartment with smooth muscle cells, where staining was not detected (HPA tissue IHC), and start the catalog antibody at 1 μg/mL overnight at 4°C (datasheet M01239-1).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Mainly nuclear in tissue (HPA tissue IHC); cytoplasm is also annotated (UniProt) | |
| Staining pattern | Mainly nuclear staining across several tissue cell types (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet M01239-1) | |
| Positive control | Adrenal gland+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Smooth muscle+2 more · see all |
| Fixation | Matched tissue-IHC evidence does not establish the fixation claim. Validate the specimen-specific method before use. (selected-SKU IHC image M01239-1) | |
| Caveat | RNA breadth may overpredict detectable tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Overexpressed in prostate cancer (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 3 isoforms; check epitope coverage for the isoform of interest (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody protocol (datasheet M01239-1) is followed by published USP7 IHC methods for mouse heart, ovarian tumors, and bladder tumor arrays (PMC9640964; PMC4803273; PMC6381716).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded human lung cancer tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet M01239-1) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet M01239-1); 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 M01239-1); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet M01239-1) |
| Primary antibody | Mouse monoclonal (clone 5E2) anti-USP7, 0.5-1μg/ml (datasheet M01239-1) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet M01239-1) |
| Detection | Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet M01239-1) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | USP7-positive staining in glandular cells of adrenal gland (HPA tissue IHC: Medium). HPA tissue profile: Mainly nuclear expression in several different tissue types. No signal in the no-primary control. |
USP7 staining should be mainly nuclear in several tissue types, including glandular cells, respiratory epithelium, neurons and glia with documented medium staining (HPA tissue IHC). Cytoplasmic signal can occur, and USP7 has no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q93009). HPA rates its tissue IHC evidence Approved, with medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA expression; use the cell type and compartment together when judging a slide (HPA tissue IHC).
| Clear nuclear chromogen in colon or duodenal glandular cells, with interpretable nuclear counterstain. | This fits the mainly nuclear tissue pattern and the reported medium staining in those glandular cells (HPA tissue IHC). Judge whether the signal follows identifiable nuclei across intact glands; a dark patch without cellular boundaries is less persuasive (standard IHC interpretation). |
| Predominantly extranuclear staining with little nuclear signal in otherwise intact, expected-positive cells. | Review this as a compartment mismatch: tissue IHC is mainly nuclear, although cytoplasm is also listed for USP7 (HPA tissue IHC; UniProt Q93009). Cytoplasmic signal alone cannot establish an artefact; compare cell morphology and controls before calling the pattern specific (standard IHC interpretation). |
| Strong staining in smooth muscle cells, soft-tissue fibroblasts or spleen red-pulp cells. | These cells are reported as not detected in the supplied HPA tissue profiles (HPA tissue IHC). Unexpected staining may reflect cross-reactivity or endogenous chromogenic activity; check a no-primary control and whether the deposit follows recognizable cells (standard IHC practice). |
| Diffuse chromogen over cells and surrounding tissue, obscuring nuclear boundaries. | A diffuse field cannot securely establish USP7 localization, even where positive cells are expected (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC interpretation). Check the no-primary control for detection background, then review blocking, washes, antibody concentration and development time as general IHC variables (standard IHC practice). |
| No nuclear signal in intact adrenal glandular cells or bronchial respiratory epithelial cells. | Both cell populations have reported medium staining and offer a check on a negative result (HPA tissue IHC). If the expected-positive cells are present, inspect counterstain, controls, retrieval conditions, detection and antibody working dilution before interpreting the absence as biology (standard IHC practice). |
| Compartment and nuclear bodies | Tissue IHC is mainly nuclear (HPA tissue IHC). Nucleoplasm is the supported main ICC-IF location; nuclear bodies and cytosol are supported additional locations (HPA subcellular). UniProt also lists PML bodies and reports USP7 in a minority of ND10 bodies, so puncta need cellular context (UniProt Q93009). |
| Cell type within the section | HPA reports medium staining in several specific cell populations, including colon glandular cells and cerebral-cortex glial cells, but low staining in lung macrophages and kidney glomerular cells (HPA tissue IHC). Score the named cell population rather than assigning one intensity to an entire mixed tissue (standard IHC interpretation). |
| Evidence and antibody choice | HPA calls the tissue IHC pattern Approved with medium antibody-to-RNA consistency; HPA015641 and CAB008108 each have Approved IHC status (HPA tissue IHC; HPA antibodies). These labels support use of the reported pattern as a reference, while leaving unexpected staining to be assessed with controls (standard IHC interpretation). |
| Isoforms and target structure | UniProt lists three USP7 isoforms, a 1–1102 chain, no signal sequence and no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q93009). The supplied record does not locate an antibody epitope or establish isoform-specific staining, so these sequence facts cannot explain a particular positive or negative slide (UniProt Q93009; HPA antibodies). |
| IF/ICC Q: What localization should I expect? | A: Primarily nucleoplasmic fluorescence, with possible nuclear-body and cytosolic signal (HPA subcellular). HPA lists U2OS and KOLF2.1J among lines with ICC-IF images and marks CAB079904 Supported for ICC (HPA subcellular; HPA antibodies). This is localization context for IF/ICC, not an IHC-P protocol (HPA subcellular). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| A documented positive tissue has no visible USP7 signal. | The result conflicts with reported medium staining in the selected positive cell population, but the HPA profile alone cannot identify the technical cause (HPA tissue IHC). | Confirm the expected cells are present, then review the IHC-validated antibody's documented conditions, retrieval, detection controls and development as general IHC checks (standard IHC practice). |
| Nuclear signal is weak in lung macrophages or kidney glomerular cells. | HPA reports low staining in those particular populations; a faint result there is less informative about assay failure than a negative result in a reported medium-staining population (HPA tissue IHC). | Assess an HPA medium-staining cell population in the same run before changing conditions; keep comparisons tied to the named cells (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). |
| Brown deposit extends across stroma and luminal spaces. | The deposit does not resolve the mainly nuclear USP7 pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Excess background or endogenous chromogenic activity is possible in an IHC run (standard IHC practice). | Inspect a no-primary control, review blocking and washes, and adjust antibody concentration or chromogen development only under the assay's documented conditions (standard IHC practice). |
| Cytoplasmic staining dominates, with little nuclear staining. | That distribution differs from the mainly nuclear tissue pattern, though cytoplasm is a documented USP7 location (HPA tissue IHC; UniProt Q93009). | Compare nuclear counterstain and cell boundaries, inspect controls, and describe both compartments; do not score cytoplasmic signal alone as confirmed specificity (standard IHC interpretation). |
| Smooth muscle or fibroblasts stain as strongly as expected-positive cells. | HPA reports USP7 as not detected in those cell populations, making the result discordant with its tissue profile (HPA tissue IHC). Cross-reactivity or detection background is possible (standard IHC interpretation). | Compare the no-primary control and an HPA medium-staining population; if the unexpected cellular pattern persists, seek independent antibody confirmation (HPA tissue IHC; standard IHC practice). |
| A change in fixation or retrieval appears to change staining. | Target-specific fixation effects are not established by the supplied assay evidence. Verify with a matched IHC source before attributing a result to fixation. | Record the conditions, compare matched sections and controls, and treat any effect as assay-specific until verified; retrieval comparison is a general IHC optimization step (standard IHC practice). |
Comprehensive Human Protein Atlas IHC scoring per tissue (reliability: Approved — 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 | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Appendix | Glandular cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Bronchus | Respiratory epithelial cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Caudate | Neuronal cells | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebellum | Cells in molecular layer | Medium | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Troubleshoot USP7 staining in paraffin sections by checking retrieval, nuclear localisation, controls and scoring before interpreting changes in expression.
Catalog anti-USP7 antibodies show IHC staining in human lung and mammary cancer paraffin sections (catalog IHC captions) and IF/ICC staining in U20S cells (catalog IF captions).
M01239-1 has IHC images from human lung cancer, human placenta and rat intestine paraffin sections, plus IF/ICC data from U20S cells (M01239-1 image captions). A01239-2 has IHC images from human mammary cancer, human placenta and mouse lymph node paraffin sections, plus IF/ICC data from U20S cells (A01239-2 image captions).
Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose the mouse monoclonal M01239-1 for the documented EDTA retrieval at pH 8.0 (M01239-1 catalog entry and IHC caption), or A01239-2 for the documented citrate retrieval at pH 6 (A01239-2 IHC caption); neither caption reports the fixative (catalog IHC captions). For IF/ICC, both SKUs list those applications and show U20S cell staining; select the secondary antibody to match the mouse host of M01239-1 or rabbit host of A01239-2 (catalog entries and IF captions). For cross-species IHC, both list human, mouse and rat reactivity, with an additional mouse lymph node image for A01239-2 and rat intestine image for M01239-1 (catalog entries and IHC captions).