from the conferences organized by TANGER Ltd.
Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a powerful technique enabling visualization/detection of cellular components (e.g. overexpressed proteins) in tissue samples and thus ensuring timely recognition of a wide range of diseases. Nowadays, antibodies labelled by different kinds of sensing probes are routinely used for selective recognition of IHC markers. However, antibodies as bio-macromolecules have a number of drawbacks including physical and (bio) chemical instability or large production cost. Therefore, the design and synthesis of artificial antibodies that are able to bind a target molecule with similar affinity and specificity have become a long-term goal in a range of scientific branches. In this work, molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (MIPs), as antibody mimics, were used as IHC agents. Specifically, polydopamine MIP nanoparticles doped with metal ions and selective for metallothionein as potential IHC marker were developed and combined with laser ablation ICP-MS. This novel approach can significantly enhance the abilities of IHC analysis and solve issues connected with the low stability of antibodies.
Keywords: Molecularly imprinted polymers, immunohistochemistry, metallothionein© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.