Immunohistochemical Detection of Lewy Bodies in a Diseased Human Brain Tissue Section

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Take a rehydrated section of diseased human brain tissue containing Lewy bodies, or LBs.

Incubate with hydrogen peroxide solution to inhibit endogenous peroxidases and prevent non-specific staining.

Heat the section in citrate buffer to unmask alpha-synuclein epitopes in the LBs. 

Apply a blocking agent to prevent non-specific antibody binding.

Remove the excess blocking agent and incubate the section with primary antibodies targeting alpha-synuclein.

Wash off unbound antibodies.

Apply biotinylated secondary antibodies that bind to the primary antibodies.

Remove excess antibodies.

Add streptavidin-biotin-peroxidase complexes, which bind to the biotinylated secondary antibodies.

Wash off unbound complexes.

Apply a color-producing substrate that reacts with the peroxidase, forming brown precipitates.

Remove the excess substrate.

Treat with a counterstain to color the nuclei blue, enhancing the contrast against the brown-stained alpha-synuclein within the LBs in the neuronal cytoplasm under a microscope.