Can antibody recommended for ELISA or WB be used on IHC? - (Sep/10/2006 )

I"m looking for a particular antibody that doesn't seem to be very commonly produced/stocked. i need it for IHC but the Abs that are available seem to be recommended for WB and ELISA. I'm running out of time and if i can't find one specific for IHC, is it okay to use ones that are meant for WB and ELISA?

Is there any way I can modify my technique to make it work for IHC?

You may contact the technical services of the antibody companies to discuss whether their Abs are also suitable for IHC.

I think that Ab suitable for ELISA and/or WB may not suitable for IHC because
1. the Ab may not be able to bind to its Ag due to masking (you may need to unmask the Ag sites)
2. Ab for WB can detected the denature form of epitope but may be not the nature form in IHC

I hope this may help.

I would try; may be your Ab has not been checked for IHC, or is not recommended as no optimum results were to await; however, if you optimize condition you may succeed; I remember to have read a protocol for mild denaturation of tissues to present epitopes for Wb/ELISA-antibodies but I have not the citation...if I find it, I again reply

I would say that you have more chance that an antibody designed for ELISA will work for IHC than one designed for WB (because the product used to immunized is often a peptide, and the antibody recognizes the denatured protein).
Check with the provider.