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- Table of Contents
Plan chromogenic WNK1 IHC on paraffin sections using its widespread cytoplasmic tissue pattern (HPA tissue IHC). This guide helps select tissue controls and interpret cell specific gaps in staining (HPA tissue IHC).
Expected localisation, validated protocols, controls and antibodies — the at-a-glance facts below, then the full design guide.
| Expected localisation | Cytoplasmic tissue staining (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Staining pattern | Widespread cytoplasmic staining across cell types (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Antigen retrieval | EDTA pH 8.0 HIER, heat-mediated (datasheet PB9964) | |
| Positive control | Appendix+4 more · see all | |
| Negative control | Adipose tissue+4 more · see all |
| Fixation | Keep fixation consistent across paraffin sections. (standard IHC practice; not target-specific) | |
| Caveat | Adipocytes may lack staining despite broad expression (HPA tissue IHC) | |
| Regulation | Hyperosmotic stress concentrates WNK1 (UniProt) | |
| Isoform / epitope | 6 isoforms; epitope coverage is unspecified (UniProt) |
Compare the catalog antibody’s EDTA pH 8.0 IHC protocol (datasheet: PB9964) with published WNK1 staining methods for mouse brain (PMC12694637) and mouse cortical sections (PMC12923593).
| Sample | Paraffin-embedded mouse testis tissue; fixative not specified (datasheet PB9964) |
| Fixation | Image fixative and duration unreported (datasheet PB9964); 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 PB9964); 20 min, 95–100 °C (standard) |
| Peroxidase block | 3% H2O2, 10 min, room temperature (standard) |
| Blocking | 10% goat serum (datasheet PB9964) |
| Primary antibody | Rabbit anti-WNK1, 0.5-1μg/ml (datasheet PB9964) |
| Primary incubation | Overnight at 4 °C (datasheet PB9964) |
| Detection | Streptavidin-biotin complex (SABC), DAB chromogen (datasheet PB9964) |
| Counterstain | Hematoxylin, blue, dehydrate and mount (standard) |
| Expected result | WNK1-positive staining in lymphoid tissue of appendix (HPA tissue IHC: High). HPA tissue profile: Ubiquitous cytoplasmic expression. No signal in the no-primary control. |
WNK1 is chiefly cytoplasmic, with supported cytosolic localisation by ICC-IF; UniProt also reports nuclear and mitotic-spindle localisation (HPA: subcellular; UniProt Q9H4A3). In paraffin-section IHC, expect staining across many cell types, with stronger signal in selected populations such as esophageal squamous epithelium and splenic red pulp cells (HPA: ubiquitous cytoplasmic expression; High in both populations). WNK1 has no transmembrane segment, so a purely membrane-restricted pattern is unexpected (UniProt Q9H4A3 topology).
| Cytoplasmic chromogen in esophageal squamous epithelial cells or splenic red pulp cells; other tissue compartments also stain (HPA: High in these cells; ubiquitous cytoplasmic expression). | This fits the reported IHC pattern. Compare intensity within the same section: the tissue profile is widespread, so a stained cell is informative through its compartment and cell identity as well as its colour intensity (HPA: tissue IHC). |
| Predominantly crisp plasma-membrane outlines or uniform nuclear-only staining in interphase cells (HPA: cytoplasmic IHC profile; UniProt Q9H4A3 topology). | Treat the compartment mismatch as suspect and inspect morphology and controls. UniProt reports some nuclear localisation, so isolated nuclear signal is possible; it does not make a nuclear-only field the expected routine IHC pattern (UniProt Q9H4A3 subcellular location). |
| Strong staining in adipocytes or salivary-gland glandular cells (HPA: Not detected in these cell populations). | Consider antibody cross-reactivity, detection background, or mistaken cell identification. A ‘Not detected’ HPA entry is an observed cell-specific result, not proof that every specimen or condition must be negative (HPA: tissue IHC). |
| Diffuse colour across stroma, lumens, or the whole section, without clear cellular boundaries (HPA: cytoplasmic IHC profile). | This does not resemble the reported cell-associated pattern. Check the no-primary control and detection steps for nonspecific signal; assess section quality and counterstain before assigning WNK1-positive cells (general IHC practice). |
| No cytoplasmic signal in a well-preserved esophageal squamous epithelium section (HPA: High in squamous epithelial cells). | First verify that the expected cells are present, then compare a positive-control section and the antibody's documented IHC conditions. Absent signal alone cannot distinguish a technical failure from specimen variation (general IHC practice; HPA: tissue IHC). |
| Tissue and cell selection (HPA: tissue IHC) | Use a reported High population to judge sensitivity, such as esophageal squamous epithelium; adipocytes are listed as Not detected and offer a cell-specific comparison. HPA also reports low staining in hepatocytes, so weak liver signal alone is a poor failure test (HPA: tissue IHC). |
| Subcellular context (HPA: subcellular; UniProt Q9H4A3) | HPA's supported ICC-IF location is cytosol, and its IHC profile is cytoplasmic. UniProt additionally reports nuclear and mitotic-spindle localisation; interpret such findings with cell state and controls rather than expecting every cell to show them (HPA: subcellular and tissue IHC; UniProt Q9H4A3). |
| Stress-dependent distribution (UniProt Q9H4A3) | WNK1 can form and localise to cytoplasmic membraneless compartments during hyperosmotic stress. This supports a biological explanation for some cytoplasmic redistribution, but the supplied HPA tissue profile does not establish a routine punctate paraffin-section pattern (UniProt Q9H4A3; HPA: tissue IHC). |
| Antibody evidence by application (HPA: antibodies) | HPA059157 has Enhanced IHC validation; HPA046541 has Supported ICC validation with no IHC status listed. Those statuses apply to their stated applications and cannot be transferred between IHC and IF (HPA: antibody validation). |
| Protein forms and topology (UniProt Q9H4A3) | UniProt lists 6 isoforms, a single 1–2382 chain, no signal peptide or propeptide, and no transmembrane segment. These facts do not identify which isoforms an antibody detects; consult its documented epitope before interpreting selective staining (UniProt Q9H4A3). |
| Situation | Likely cause | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| Positive-control epithelium is blank (HPA: High in esophageal squamous epithelial cells). | Possible IHC workflow or antibody failure; the HPA level does not identify a target-specific fixation effect (HPA: tissue IHC). | Confirm cell identity and section quality, then review the IHC-validated antibody's instructions and run a documented positive control alongside the sample (general IHC practice). |
| All compartments show similar brown haze, including acellular areas (HPA: cytoplasmic IHC profile). | Nonspecific background or detection activity may obscure a cellular pattern (general IHC practice). | Inspect the no-primary control, wash and blocking steps, and chromogen development; adjust only with matched controls (general IHC practice). |
| Adipocytes stain as strongly as the intended positive population (HPA: Not detected in adipocytes). | Cross-reactivity, background, or cell misclassification is plausible; HPA's negative call is cell-specific (HPA: tissue IHC). | Recheck morphology and compare no-primary and positive-control sections before scoring adipocytes as WNK1-positive (general IHC practice). |
| Signal forms sharp cell-surface rims with little cytoplasm (HPA: ubiquitous cytoplasmic expression). | The pattern conflicts with HPA IHC and the lack of a transmembrane segment; staining artefact is possible (HPA: tissue IHC; UniProt Q9H4A3 topology). | Check the no-primary control, tissue edges and detection development; reassess whether cytoplasmic signal is present in known-positive cells (general IHC practice). |
| A small subset of cells shows nuclear or punctate cytoplasmic signal (UniProt Q9H4A3 subcellular location). | UniProt reports nuclear localisation and stress-related cytoplasmic compartments, but these records do not confirm the cause in this section (UniProt Q9H4A3). | Record the cell type and distribution; compare controls and the surrounding cytoplasm before treating the unusual pattern as specific (general IHC practice). |
| An IF/ICC image seems to disagree with the chromogenic IHC result (HPA: subcellular and tissue IHC). | The assays and antibody validations differ; HPA reports supported cytosolic ICC-IF, while IHC staining is described as ubiquitous cytoplasmic (HPA: subcellular, tissue IHC, antibodies). | Interpret each assay against its own validation and controls. Use the separate IF/ICC guide for that assay's workflow (HPA: antibody validation; general IHC/IF 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appendix | Lymphoid tissue | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebellum | Bergmann glia - cytoplasm/membrane | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Cerebral cortex | Glial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Esophagus | Squamous epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Oral mucosa | Squamous epithelial cells | High | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Tissue | Cell type | Level | Evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adipose tissue | Adipocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Colon | Endothelial cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Ovary | Ovarian stroma cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Salivary gland | Glandular cells | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
| Soft tissue | Chondrocytes | Not detected | Protein (IHC) | HPA → |
Use the catalog antibody’s documented paraffin section conditions as the IHC starting point, then assess staining by cell type, compartment, and controls.
Real IHC images cover paraffin-embedded mouse and rat testis, human intestinal cancer, and human breast carcinoma (PB9964 and A01422T60 image captions). No IF images are supplied (catalog).
PB9964 will render with a mouse testis IHC figure; its other captions show rat testis and human intestinal cancer, all in paraffin-embedded sections (PB9964 image captions). A01422T60 will render with a paraffin-embedded human breast carcinoma IHC figure showing phospho-WNK1 at T60 (A01422T60 image caption).
Which to pick: Choose PB9964 for tissue IHC when detecting WNK1 across human, mouse, or rat samples: its reactivity list covers all three, and its own paraffin-section captions show each species (PB9964 catalog and image captions). Choose A01422T60 when the target is phospho-WNK1 at T60; its own IHC caption shows paraffin-embedded human breast carcinoma, and its catalog lists human, mouse, and rat reactivity (A01422T60 catalog and image caption). Neither SKU lists IF/ICC or supplies an IF image, so there is no supported IF/ICC pick here; the IHC captions do not report a fixative (catalog and image captions).