[Histonet] RE: difference between immunocytochemistry and immunohistochemistry-Fr

[C.M. van der Loos]

Hi,Good point you are raising here! Despite tons of literature mixing up the terms IHC and ICC (especially coming from the UK), I do believe there is a very big difference here. Like you described, we also encountered a situation that IFNgamma antibody worked very well in ICC (after fixing the cells in 4% PFA and using saponin 0.1% to open-up the cell membranes to get the cytoplasmic cytokine stained) but absolutely not with IHC on cryo sections. After some experiments we concluded that IFNgamma leaks away from the tissue sections during fixation (either acetone or 4% PFA). We also concluded that findings like this demonstrate we better do not mix up IHC and ICC! For example, if a company notes about one of their antibodies that it is applicable for IHC, but they mean staining of intact cells, consequently one may have a problem using that antibody on tissue tissue sections. In my lectures I always mention that we better use the terms IHC and I CC as they are originally meant for: IHC for staining tissue sections (cryo, paraffin or plastic) and ICC for staining intact cells. I send you a pdf of our paper to your private e-mail address. Cheers,ChrisChris van der Loos, PhD
Dept. of Pathology
Academic Medical Center M2-230
Meibergdreef 9
NL-1105 AZ Amsterdam
The Netherlands
phone:  +31 20 5665631
fax:    +31 20 6960389
e-mail: c.m.vanderloos <@t> amc.uva.nl  Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:00:40 -0800 (PST)
From: Dong Yujuan <yujuan_dong <@t> yahoo.com>
Subject: [Histonet] difference between immunocytochemistry and
immunohistochemistry-Fr
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu

Hi all, I am using an monoclonal antibody to test a membrane protein (tested appilication include Flow cyt and western blot).
It��was succsessfuly used in Immunocytochemistry (cell culture) before. However when I applied it in Immunohistochemistry (Frozen sections, human tissue), there was no signal at all (The fixation is the same). 
Is there so big difference between ICC and IHC-Fr? Is it my problem or the antibody's? 
Many thanks!
��
Celia 
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong