Immunostaining of skeletal tissues

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a routinely used technique in clinical diagnosis of pathological conditions and in basic research. It combines anatomical, immunological, and biochemical methods and relies on the specific binding of an antibody to an antigen. Using the technique with mineralised tissues is more complicated than with soft tissues. This can in most cases be overcome by demineralising the samples, which allows embedding in paraffin wax and a simpler work-up than for resin-embedded, or for frozen samples. This chapter describes methods for IHC on paraffin-embedded formaldehyde fixed sections to detect antigens in the musculoskeletal tissues.