Abstract
This chapter describes colloidal gold probes in immunocytochemistry. The interest in colloidal gold as an immunocytochemical marker has grown. Firstly, it has been shown that it is capable of strong emission of secondary electrons, making it a very useful marker for scanning electron microscopy. Secondly, accumulations of colloidal gold over antigen-containing sites can be seen in the light microscope. The typical red color forms without incubation with an enzyme substrate and its appearance can be monitored continuously. Recently, protein A–colloidal silver has also been used for light microscopical detection of pancreatic hormones and for double staining experiments. Thirdly, colloidal gold probes can be used to detect antigens in ultrathin plastic or frozen sections. It has also been shown that the smaller sized probes are able to penetrate into whole cultured cells, to label intracellular antigens in the pre-embedding mode. Fourthly, colloidal gold–antibody probes have been used in a novel way to label cell monolayers. Finally, monoclonal antibodies have been shown to provide a first choice material for labeling with colloidal gold.
Published Version
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