Localization of Viral Antigens: Immunogold Labeling and Silver Enhancement of Vibratome Tissue Sections

摘要

Immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) has become an important tool for identifying the intracellular sites of specific proteins. These antigens may be inaccessible to immunologic markers because they are surrounded by cytosolic proteins and lipid membranes. Silver enhancement of an immunogold label was used to exhibit the presence of viral antigens in tissue by light microscopy and to identify the intracellular location(s) by electron microscopy. We compared three enhancement procedures: 1) silver lactate reduced by hydroquinone, 2) silver ions in Ilford L4 nuclear research emulsion reduced by metol, and 3) the Janssen IntenSE II enhancement kit. We found the Janssen kit to be the most advantageous for electron microscopy. Keywords: Immunocytochemistry. (AW)