Skip to main content
. 2016 Sep 29;11(9):e0163856. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0163856

Table 2. Example of controls for a 5-marker multiplex immunofluorescence.

Eleven serial sections of a control block are stained with the experimental samples and serve as controls.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1 Marker 1
Goat αMouse GoatαMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse Goat αMouse
Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2 Marker 2
Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit
Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3 Marker 3
Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse Donkey αMouse
Marker 4 Marker 4 Marker 4 Marker 4 Marker 4 Marker 4 Marker 4
Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit Donkey αRabbit
Marker 5 Marker 5 Marker 5 Marker 5 Marker 5 Marker 5
αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot αMouse IgG3biot
5 markers Qred No primary control No primary control No primary control No primary control No primary control 1 marker no Qred 2 markers no Qred 3 markers no Qred 4 markers no Qred 5 markers no Qred
stability
Controls for crossbinding Controls for the loss of fluorescence during the full staining process

For stability test, on day zero, 20 (x20 objective) to 40 fields (x40 objective) of slide 1 are imaged using Nuance. At regular intervals (at least once a day for the time of the capturing), 4 fields are re-captured and the intensity of fluorescence for each marker is compared with day zero. The fields chosen are changed every day to avoid potential confounding from photobleaching (which does not happen in our current experimental conditions). Comparisons of slides 1 to 6 are used for cross binding control and 7 to 11 for quenching during the staining protocol.