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- Table of Contents
Plan USP7 staining in paraffin sections around the mainly nuclear tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC). Start with the catalog antibody at 0.5–1 μg/mL (datasheet: M01239-1) and compare nuclear staining across consistently fixed sections.
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Mainly nuclear tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Mainly nuclear staining across several tissue 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 | Keep fixation consistent across sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Antibody staining and RNA show medium consistency (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Overexpressed in prostate cancer (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 3 isoforms; epitope coverage is unspecified (UniProt) |
The catalog antibody's IHC-P protocol (datasheet M01239-1) is accompanied by published USP7 paraffin-section methods (PMC9640964; PMC4803273).
| 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 should appear mainly in nuclei across several tissue types, with signal in the cell populations HPA reports as positive, including glandular, respiratory epithelial, neuronal and glial cells (HPA: tissue IHC profile). Cytoplasmic signal can occur, but a purely cytoplasmic pattern needs scrutiny (UniProt Q93009: nucleus and cytoplasm). USP7 has no transmembrane segment (UniProt Q93009: topology). HPA rates its tissue IHC data Approved, with medium consistency between staining and RNA expression (HPA: tissue IHC reliability).
| Brown nuclear staining in glandular cells of colon or duodenum, with some nuclei stronger than others (HPA: Medium in both cell populations). | This matches the reported mainly nuclear tissue pattern (HPA: tissue IHC profile). Score the proportion and intensity of stained target cells against nearby background; HPA’s Medium category describes its observations and is not a universal scoring threshold (HPA: tissue IHC levels; general IHC practice). |
| Signal is exclusively cytoplasmic, or outlines cell membranes while nuclei remain clear. | A cytoplasmic component is biologically plausible (UniProt Q93009: cytoplasm), but cytoplasm-only or membrane-dominant staining does not match the mainly nuclear tissue IHC profile (HPA: tissue IHC profile; UniProt Q93009: no transmembrane segment). Check whether the pattern persists with a separately validated antibody before assigning it to USP7 (general IHC practice). |
| Strong staining appears in smooth muscle cells, soft-tissue fibroblasts or spleen red-pulp cells (HPA: Not detected in these sampled populations). | Treat the mismatch as a specificity warning, especially if expected nuclear staining is absent elsewhere on the section (HPA: tissue IHC profile). Cross-reactivity or endogenous detection activity are possible explanations, not conclusions from one slide (general IHC practice). HPA’s observations do not prove that every specimen of these cell types must be negative (HPA: tissue IHC data). |
| A broad brown haze covers tissue structures and blank areas, obscuring nuclear boundaries. | This distribution cannot be scored as USP7-positive nuclei (HPA: mainly nuclear tissue IHC profile). Diffuse background may reflect nonspecific reagent binding, endogenous chromogenic activity or detection conditions (general IHC practice). Compare a no-primary control and inspect whether the deposit follows cells or extends into cell-free areas (general IHC practice). |
| No nuclear signal is visible in colon or duodenal glandular cells (HPA: Medium in these sampled populations). | A negative result there conflicts with the HPA examples, but cannot by itself establish absent USP7 or a failed assay (HPA: tissue IHC levels and Approved reliability). Confirm that the section contains the expected cells and that controls worked; then reassess staining conditions using the IHC-validated antibody’s instructions (general IHC practice). |
| Cell population and reference tissue | HPA reports Medium staining in colon and duodenal glandular cells, bronchial respiratory epithelium, caudate neurons and cerebral-cortex glia; it reports Low staining in lung macrophages and Not detected in sampled smooth muscle cells (HPA: tissue IHC levels). Choose the reference cell population explicitly, because a whole-tissue average can conceal a weak or absent population (general IHC practice). |
| Antibody validation scope | HPA lists Approved IHC results for HPA015641 and CAB008108, with medium consistency between antibody staining and RNA data at the tissue-profile level (HPA: antibody validation; tissue IHC reliability). Approved supports use as a reference pattern; it is not proof that every brown deposit is specific (general IHC practice). CAB079904 is listed as Supported for ICC, without an IHC status in the supplied record (HPA: antibody validation). |
| Protein form and epitope coverage | USP7 has 3 reported isoforms, and the listed protein chain spans residues 1–1102 without a signal peptide, propeptide or transmembrane segment (UniProt Q93009: isoforms, processing and topology). The supplied record gives no antibody epitope, so it cannot establish which isoforms an antibody detects or predict a staining difference from epitope position (UniProt Q93009: supplied record). |
| IF/ICC Q: What pattern should a separate IF assay show? | A: Mainly nucleoplasmic signal, with possible nuclear-body and cytosolic signal (HPA: supported ICC-IF locations). UniProt also places USP7 in nuclei, cytoplasm and a minority of ND10 nuclear bodies (UniProt Q93009: subcellular location). HPA lists ICC-IF images from U2OS and KOLF2.1J and marks CAB079904 Supported for ICC (HPA: subcellular and antibody records). These IF observations inform localisation, not an IHC protocol choice. |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Expected cells show weak nuclear chromogen, making scoring uncertain (HPA: Medium in colon and duodenal glandular cells). | Cell identification, detection settings or the chosen reference section may limit interpretation (general IHC practice); target-specific fixation sensitivity is unreported in the supplied sources. | Verify the cell population and run a documented positive section alongside the sample. Review the IHC-validated antibody’s staining conditions, including retrieval and dilution, without assuming a USP7-specific retrieval requirement (general IHC practice). |
| Cytoplasm dominates while nuclei lack a clear signal. | Some cytoplasmic USP7 is plausible (UniProt Q93009: cytoplasm), but this differs from the mainly nuclear IHC profile (HPA: tissue IHC profile). | Check nuclear boundaries with the counterstain and compare a second, independently validated IHC antibody if available; record cytoplasmic and nuclear scores separately (general IHC practice). |
| A reported Not detected cell population stains strongly (HPA: smooth muscle cells, soft-tissue fibroblasts or spleen red-pulp cells). | The result may reflect cross-reactivity or endogenous chromogenic activity; a single mismatch does not identify which (general IHC practice). | Compare a no-primary control and an HPA-listed positive cell population on the same run. Investigate persistent cell-specific staining with an independent IHC antibody (general IHC practice; HPA: tissue IHC examples). |
| Brown deposit is diffuse across tissue or appears outside cells. | Background from nonspecific binding, endogenous activity or detection reagents can obscure the mainly nuclear pattern (general IHC practice; HPA: tissue IHC profile). | Inspect the no-primary control; review blocking, endogenous-enzyme quenching, washes and detection conditions before scoring nuclei (general IHC practice). |
| A reference section has no visible staining in its expected positive cells (HPA: Medium in colon or duodenal glandular cells). | The run may have failed, or the sampled section may lack the expected cells; HPA’s Approved profile has medium consistency with RNA data (general IHC practice; HPA: tissue IHC reliability). | Check section identity and morphology, then confirm control performance and the catalog antibody’s IHC-P conditions before interpreting the specimen as negative (general 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, compartment, cell type and controls before interpreting chromogenic signal.
Two anti-USP7 antibodies have IHC images from paraffin-embedded human tissues (catalog IHC captions) and IF/ICC images from cells (catalog IF captions); both list human, mouse, and rat reactivity (catalog).
M01239-1 has IHC images from paraffin-embedded human lung cancer and placenta tissues and rat intestine (M01239-1 IHC captions), plus an IF/ICC cell image (M01239-1 IF caption). A01239-2 has IHC images from paraffin-embedded human mammary cancer and placenta tissues and mouse lymph nodes (A01239-2 IHC captions), plus IF/ICC cell images (A01239-2 IF captions).
Which to pick: For tissue IHC, choose mouse monoclonal M01239-1 when using EDTA at pH 8 (catalog host and clone; M01239-1 IHC captions), or rabbit A01239-2 when using citrate at pH 6 (catalog host; A01239-2 IHC captions); both captions describe paraffin sections but leave the fixative unreported (respective IHC captions). For IF/ICC, either SKU lists those applications and 2 µg/ml (catalog applications and dilution), with the choice of mouse or rabbit primary guided by the available secondary antibody (catalog hosts; standard IF practice). For cross-species tissue IHC, both list human, mouse, and rat reactivity (catalog); A01239-2 has a mouse lymph-node IHC image (A01239-2 IHC caption), while M01239-1 has a rat-intestine IHC image (M01239-1 IHC caption).