Controls for Immunohistochemistry: The Histochemical Society’s Standards of Practice for Validation of Immunohistochemical Assays

Stephen M. Hewitt, Denis G. Baskin, Charles W. Frevert, William L. Stahl, Eduardo Rosa-Molinar

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

199 Scopus citations

Abstract

Immunohistochemistry is widely used in biomedical research to localize specific epitopes of molecules in cells and tissues. The validity of interpretations based on immunohistochemistry requires appropriate positive and negative controls that are often not reported in publications. This omission may lead to incorrect interpretations and irreproducible results in the literature and contribute to wasted time, effort, and resources as well as erosion of confidence in scientific investigation by the general public, legislative bodies and funding agencies. The present article summarizes essential controls required for validation of immunohistochemical findings and represents a standard of practice for the use of immunohistochemistry in research and diagnostic investigations. Adherence to the guidelines described in the present article can be cited by authors as support for the validity of interpretations of the immunohistochemistry reported in their publications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)693-697
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry
Volume62
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 11 2014

Keywords

  • Immunohistochemistry
  • antibodies
  • assay
  • controls
  • immunocytochemistry
  • standards
  • validation

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