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Immunohistochemistry Resource Guide

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IHC Guide Cover v1

Table of Contents

Customizing your VECTASTAIN® ABC Kit

If a VECTASTAIN ABC system is not available with a biotinylated secondary antibody of your required specificity, you can custom-build the exact kit that you require. All of our biotinylated, affinity-purified secondary antibodies are designed for use with VECTASTAIN ABC Standard Kits and the appropriate blocking serum. Our mix-and-match kit components allow you to both design a custom kit to suit your needs and to use kit components interchangeably. The reagents can be purchased individually, allowing you to combine them to suit your specific needs.

For example, to make a VECTASTAIN Elite® ABC Kit for use with a mouse IgG primary antibody on rat tissues:

  1. Choose the VECTASTAIN ABC Kit that contains the desired detection enzyme but with no secondary antibody (e.g. VECTASTAIN Elite ABC Kit, Standard).
  2. Choose the biotinylated secondary antibody (e.g. biotinylated horse anti-mouse IgG, rat adsorbed).
  3. Choose the blocking solution. We recommend a serum from the same species as the secondary antibody. (In our example, normal horse serum). Alternatively, select our animal-free blocking reagents for multiple antigen labeling (multiplex) IHC applications where antibodies from different species and a variety of detection systems are used on the same tissue section.

1. Choose Standard VECTASTAIN ABC Kit with the appropriate detection enzyme

Enzyme Product Catalog Number
Peroxidase VECTASTAIN® Elite® ABC Kit PK-6100
Peroxidase R.T.U. VECTASTAIN® Elite® ABC Reagent PK-7100
Peroxidase VECTASTAIN® ABC Kit PK-4000
Alkaline Phosphatase VECTASTAIN® ABC-AP Kit AK-5000

2. Choose the biotinylated secondary antibody*

Product Concentrate R.T.U.     
Anti-Goat IgG (H+L) made in rabbit, biotinylated BA-5000-1.5  
Anti-Goat IgG (H+L) made in horse, biotinylated BA-9500-1.5 BP-9500-50
Anti-Human IgG (H+L) made in goat, biotinylated BA-3000-1.5  
Anti-Mouse IgG (H+L) made in horse, biotinylated BA-2000-1.5 BP-2000-50
Anti-Mouse IgG (H+L) made in horse, rat adsorbed, biotinylated BA-2001-.5  
Anti-Mouse IgG (H+L) made in goat, biotinylated BA-9200-1.5 BP-9200-50
Anti-Mouse IgM (H+L) μ chain specific, made in goat, biotinylated BA-2020-.5  
Anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) made in goat, biotinylated BA-1000-1.5 BP-9100-50
Anti-Rabbit IgG (H+L) made in horse, biotinylated BA-1100-1.5 BP-1100-50
Anti-Rat IgG (H+L) made in rabbit, biotinylated BA-4000-1.5  
Anti-Rat IgG (H+L) made in rabbit, mouse adsorbed, biotinylated BA-4001-.5  
Anti-Rat IgG (H+L) made in goat, biotinylated BA-9400-1.5 BP-9400-50
Anti-Rat IgG (H+L) made in goat, mouse adsorbed, biotinylated BA-9401-.5  
Universal Anti-Mouse/Rabbit IgG (H+L) made in horse, biotinylated BA-1400-2.1 BP-1400-50
Universal Pan-Specific Anti-Mouse/Rabbit/Goat IgG (H+L) made in horse, biotinylated BA-1300-2.2  

3. Choose the blocking solution

Product Concentrate R.T.U.     
Normal Goat Serum S-1000-20 S-1012-50
Normal Rabbit Serum S-5000-20  
Normal Horse Serum S-2000-20 S-2012-50
Animal-Free Blocker® and Diluent SP-5030-250 SP-5035-100

* A complete list of all biotinylated secondary antibodies
† Ready-to-use, prediluted stabilized solutions.