How to choose the right stains for your IHC experiments
Histology stains, fluorescent stains and special stains are used to stain specific cell and tissue structures, and also to stain microorganisms to help identify the location of primary antibody staining.
Find the right stains and counterstains for your experiments with this guide.
What do you need to consider when choosing an IHC counterstain or special stain?
1. If your primary antibody is visualized with a chromogen
2. If your primary antibody is visualized fluorescently
3. If your experiment requires a special stain
What do I use if my primary antibody is visualized with a chromogen?
Chromogenic counterstains are used when the primary antibody is visualized using HRP or alkaline phospatase combined with DAB, AEC, or similar enzyme substrates. The traditional combination is HRP/DAB with hematoxylin to stain nuclei. Eosin, for cytoplasmic staining, is often used in combination with hematoxylin.
How our counterstains can help
Our stains come as convenient kits and optimized reagent solutions for H&E counterstaining. They’re compatible with our broad range of IHC antibodies, so you’re sure to find a stain that works for you.
H&E staining kit (Hematoxylin and Eosin)
- Newly formulated Eosin that provides the benefits of a traditional alcoholic formula with significant improvements in usability
- Lower evaporation rate, better color patterns, and improved surface tension to remain on tissue section
- Highly specific providing optimal contrast to the Eosin stained cytoplasm
- Highly cited in >200 publications
What do I use if my primary antibody is visualized fluorescently?
Fluorescent counterstains are used when the primary antibody staining is visualized with a fluorescent dye either directly conjugated to the primary antibody, or to a secondary antibody. Avoid using a counterstain with an overlapping emission spectra to the dye used for primary antibody visualization.
DAPI is traditionally the most popular fluorescent nuclear counterstain.
Mounting Medium With DAPI - Aqueous, Fluoroshield
- Convenient aqueous mounting medium for fluorescent cell imaging
- Includes DAPI within the medium as a counterstain
- Cited in hundreds of publications
What are special stains used for?
Special stains are used to stain certain cell types, microorganisms, and specific proteins, carbohydrates and metabolites found in the tissue matrix and within cells.
How our stains can help
Whilst simple to use once established, special stains are often time-consuming to set up and optimize. Our optimized special stain kits provide a convenient alternative to setting up a stain yourself and are often faster to use than traditional staining methods.
Trichrome Stain Kit
- Highly specific: clear results for morphological studies because the different parts of the tissue are very well contrasted
- Ready-to use-solutions
- Highly cited in >200 publications
