What is IHC?

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) uses antibodies to detect the location of proteins and other antigens in tissue sections. Since antibodies are highly specific, the antibody will bind only to the antigen of interest. The antibody-antigen interaction is then viewed using either a colored enzyme substrate (chromogenic detection) or a fluorescent dye (fluorescent detection).

Although IHC is less quantitative than western blotting or ELISA assays, it gives valuable information about protein localization. Protein expression patterns are tremendously beneficial in research and healthcare and can be an important diagnostic tool to determine abnormal cells in diseases such as cancer.