[Histonet] aggrecan IHC on articular cartilage

[Kim Merriam]

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has done aggrecan IHC on articular cartilage from FFPE/decaled rodent knees.  The references and antibodies all call for a funky pretreatment step rather than a routine heat or enzyme (granted all of the references I have found are all for westerns and not IHC).  Anyway, the pretreatment calls for incubation with chondroitinase or a combination of chondriotinase/keratinase 1 and 2 (it seems as though the aggrecan is bound up in these other proteins and they need to be digested away to access the aggrecan).

Has anyone does this stain on tissues using a more routine retrieval?  Also, any antibodies to recommend? 
 Kim Merriam, MA, HT(ASCP)QIHC
Cambridge, MA