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. 1993 Dec;101(Suppl 5):207–209. doi: 10.1289/ehp.93101s5207

Detecting proliferating cell nuclear antigen in archival rodent tissues.

A Greenwell 1, J F Foley 1, R R Maronpot 1
PMCID: PMC1519460  PMID: 7912187

Abstract

The detection of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), an endogenous cell replication marker, has lacked sensitivity in paraffin-embedded archival tissues fixed in formalin. An enhanced immunohistochemical procedure to detect PCNA has been successfully applied to rat and mouse tissues. Tissue sections are heated in a microwave oven in the presence of an antigen-retrieval solution of heavy-metal salts. Positive immunostaining of S-phase cells, an indication of DNA replicative activity, has been consistently obtained in tissues fixed for more than 24 months in formalin and in paraffin blocks stored for up to 19 months. Use of this technique will allow retrospective staining of rodent tissues from previously conducted toxicity and carcinogenicity studies.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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