[Histonet] Basement membrane "counterstain" for IHC?

[Mikael Niku]

Dear Histonetters,

I'm doing IHC for intraepithelial lymphocytes using paraffin sections of 
murine small intestines. To make counting the cells easier and more 
reliable, I'd like to add a basement membrane stain to the protocol.

Is there a simple and compatible histological basement membrane stain you 
would like to recommend here? For IHC, I'm using a standard biotin and 
peroxidase based detection system and the DAB substrate (brown signal). The 
tissues are PFA fixed material, and the antibodies require heat-induced 
epitope retrieval in microwave oven. The immunostaining is performed either 
manually (with ThermoShandon coverplates) or using a LabVision autostainer. 
Normally, I'm using a hematoxylin counterstain (just in water, no eosin) and 
a water-soluble embedding medium.

With best regards,
Mikael Niku
University of Helsinki, Finland