Introduction to Immunohistochemistry: From to Evolving Science to Timeless Art.

Abstract

Immunohistochemistry and all techniques that use antibodies and fluorescence are widespread, essential and irreplaceable tools used in both research laboratory settings and diagnostic pathology laboratories. The field was born approximately 80years ago, with the idea that antibodies could be tagged with fluorescent substances and used to detect antigens in cells and microorganisms, and has vertiginously evolved since; these advances have come in all aspects of the methodology, tissue fixation, generation of antibodies, monoclonal antibodies, signal amplification, antigen retrieval, signal amplification, microscopy and have become increasingly sophisticated, from in situ hybridization, in situ proximity ligation assay, flow cytometry, comet assay, to multiplexing and green fluorescent protein reconstitution, yielding Nobel Prizes along the way and generating invaluable scientific and diagnostic advances as well as timeless beautiful images.