Pararosaniline Fixation for Detection of Co-stimulatory Molecules, Cytokines, and Specific AntibodyIngrid A. Schrijvera, Marie-José Meliefa, Marjan van Meursa, Arjen R. Companjena, and Jon D. Lamanaa Department of Immunology, Erasmus University and University Hospital, RotterdamDijkzigt, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Correspondence to: Ingrid A. Schrijver, Dept. of Immunology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, PO Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Integral immunohistochemical analysis of immune responses in frozen sections requires that, in addition to constitutively expressed membrane CD markers, less stable determinants can be reliably visualized. Therefore, we compared the commonly used acetone fixation method with pararosaniline fixation for six determinant categories. These categories included selected constitutively expressed markers, inducible co-stimulatory molecules, pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines (including the novel cytokine IL-18, also known as IGIF and IL-1 Key Words: acetone, immunohistochemistry, antibody-forming cells, morphology, multiple sclerosis, experimental autoimmune encephalitis, endogenous alkaline phosphatase, antigen preservation
CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASES such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS) are generally believed to result from the activity of autoreactive CD4-positive T-cells. The formation and activity of lesions caused by infiltrating mononuclear cells are complex processes that are incompletely understood, and this also holds true for the cellular effector mechanisms that might be responsible for the tissue damage that leads to temporary and cumulative clinical symptoms. Such effector functions include local (auto)-antigen presentation (auto)-antibody production, secretion of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, and activity of enzymes involved in proteolysis and nitric oxide (NO) production (
It is therefore crucial to analyze inflammatory lesions functionally in situ by conventional and novel immunohistochemical methods to provide an integral view of ongoing cellular activities. Relevant parameters are the localization of antigen possibly involved in inflammation [e.g., bacterial peptidoglycan (PG) in RA]. PG may be involved in the pathogenesis of chronic inflammation, particularly in RA (
The identification of mononuclear cell subsets [e.g. T-, B-, and antigen-presenting cells (APCs), granulocytes] by markers such as IgM, IgG, CD14, and HLA-DR or enzyme activity (lysosomal acid phosphatase in macrophages) can be used to examine the presence of B-cells and antigen-presenting cells that can contribute to pathogenesis of RA and MS by producing antibodies and cytokines or enzymes. Functional activation profiles can be identified by strongly regulated co-stimulatory molecules such as CD40, CD40L, CD80 (B7-1), and CD86 (B7-2) (
To identify all these relevant parameters involved in inflammation by immunohistochemistry, adequate fixation of frozen sections is an essential requirement. The main function of fixation is to preserve morphology of the tissue, which is often best accomplished by strong fixation. The disadvantage of strong fixation is that the structure and integrity of the parameters are changed, resulting in poor quality of the staining pattern. The optimal fixation condition therefore consists of a compromise between these contradictory requirements and may differ depending on the nature of the antigen (
Pararosaniline has previously been shown to have good fixation properties for frozen tissue sections without affecting antigenicity. This was concluded from staining for constitutively expressed markers in mouse lymphohemopoietic organs in which acetone fixation was compared with pararosaniline fixation ( The aim of this study was to determine whether pararosaniline has advantages over acetone fixation for detection of less stable determinants such as bacterial antigen, intracellular cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, and specific antibody located in plasma cells. Expression of the markers was examined in different types of organ tissues (spleen, brain) from three species (human, mouse, and monkey). Tissues were activated either by chronic inflammation or by in vivo administration of TNPFicoll (a thymus-independent Type 2 antigen) or agonistic anti-CD40 antibody.
Human and Animal Tissues
To study expression of co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines in tissue affected by chronic autoimmune inflammation, brain tissue from marmoset monkey EAE (Callithrix jacchus) was used. The monkeys were bred at the Biomedical Primate Research Center (BPRC) and used under conditions approved by Dutch laws on animal experimentation. EAE was induced essentially as described previously ( Expression of human markers was determined in human spleen without evidence of infection or inflammation. Two human spleens were removed after damage to the spleen occurred during surgery for a stomach carcinoma. To study expression of co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines in human tissue affected by chronic autoimmune inflammation, brain tissue of MS patients was used for determination of all cytokines and co-stimulatory molecules expected to be expressed in lesions. Two human MS brain tissue specimens were obtained at autopsy with short postmortem intervals from the Netherlands Brain Bank in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (coordinator Dr. R. Ravid).
Tissue Processing
Fixatives
(Immuno)histochemistry
Evaluation and Quantitation of (Immuno)histochemistry
Morphology
In all tissues (except for MS brain), the morphology improved after fixation with pararosaniline. For MS brain tissue there was no difference between the two fixatives. After pararosaniline fixation, both densely populated areas, such as the splenic white pulp, and less densely populated areas (red pulp) of the spleen and infiltrates of EAE brain showed better morphology. At low-power magnification, the distinction between spleen white and red pulp could be made much more easily after pararosaniline fixation compared to acetone. In addition, the distinction between individual cells and determination of cell type on the basis of morphology was much easier after pararosaniline fixation compared to acetone fixation. After pararosaniline fixation, the counterstaining of the nuclei with hematoxylin was more intense compared to acetone fixation.
Endogenous Enzymatic Activity In none of the tissues could endogenous peroxidase staining be observed after acetone or pararosaniline fixation. In human and mouse spleen, endogenous AP activity was completely blocked after both fixation procedures. In contrast, EAE and MS brain tissue showed a difference between the fixation procedures. After acetone fixation, endogenous AP activity was present in the endothelial cells of the blood vessels in MS brain and monkey EAE brain. After pararosaniline fixation this endogenous AP activity was completely abolished (Figure 1C and Figure 1D).
Preservation of Determinants
Especially with markers present on a high number of cells, such as CD14 and HLA-DR, the staining intensity of the cells was higher after pararosaniline fixation. A disadvantage of pararosaniline fixation is that no positive cells could be observed for IFN- Figure 2 shows some selected stainings representing the different categories of determinants used in the study. Lysosomal acid phosphatase activity can be detected histochemically in all macrophages present in the EAE brain tissue. Pararosaniline fixation resulted in similar staining intensity compared to acetone fixation (Figure 2A and Figure 2B). IL-4 is expressed in the red pulp of human spleen. The staining pattern is more discrete and stronger after pararosaniline compared to acetone fixation (Figure 2C and Figure 2D). CD40 expression in mouse spleen injected with the agonistic anti-CD40 antibody is weak on B-cells in the white pulp and strong on some macrophages in the red pulp. After pararosaniline, the staining of the B-cells is more intense compared to acetone fixation. (Figure 2E and Figure 2F). Plasma cells containing intracellular antibody specific for TNP were detected in TNPFicoll-immunized mice. Anti-TNP plasma cells were present in groups of 1050 cells located in the outer pals and terminal arterioles of the spleen. Staining patterns did not differ between the two fixation procedures, indicating that pararosaniline does not affect the integrity of antigen binding sites, but morphology of the tissue strongly improved after pararosaniline fixation (Figure 2G and Figure 2H).
The present data clearly demonstrate that pararosaniline is a permissive and mild fixative for frozen sections, which can result in improved immunohistochemical staining compared to acetone, depending on the combination of the marker and the tissue under study.
The purpose of this study was to identify improved fixation conditions for the study of immune responses in situ. Integral immunohistochemical analysis of immune responses requires that, in addition to constitutively expressed membrane CD markers, strongly regulated determinants such as bacterial antigen, intracellular cytokines, co-stimulatory molecules, enzyme activity, and antigen-specific plasma cells can be visualized reliably. Although some studies have reported that unstable determinants such as cytokines are detected reliably in paraffin-embedded tissue (e.g.,
To improve morphology while maintaining staining intensity, we compared the most commonly used mild acetone fixation with pararosaniline. Pararosaniline is a hexazonium salt that contains three reactive diazonium groups and therefore, in theory, must be able to crosslink proteins, which was shown previously to yield a better morphology of mouse tissue compared to acetone without affecting immunogenicity (
Antigen preservation was analyzed by examination of staining intensity per cell and number of positive cells. In general, the antigen preservation after pararosaniline fixation did not differ from that of acetone fixation. Staining of antigen-specific antibodies and acid phosphatase could be detected reliably in all tissues, implying that these determinants are well preserved. The preservation of strongly regulated molecules such as co-stimulatory molecules and cytokines differed between the two fixation procedures. The restriction of pararosaniline fixation is that, for a few determinanttissue combinations, the number of cells positive for the determinant is lower compared to acetone fixation. In these cases, acetone fixation would be preferable. In all other cases, fixation with pararosaniline is preferable over acetone fixation for four reasons. First, morphology is strongly improved after pararosaniline fixation, which results in a better judgment of the location of positive cells. Second, endogenous AP activity could be completely inhibited after pararosaniline fixation. This is especially important when double stainings are performed with revelation of both peroxidase and AP enzymatic activity ( In conclusion, pararosaniline fixation gives a better morphology than acetone fixation and inhibits endogenous AP activity in brain tissue. Antigen preservation in general does not differ between the two fixatives for a wide range of determinants. When staining protocols are established for new and existing reagents, pararosaniline is an easy and cost-effective alternative fixation for frozen sections. For studying a new markertissue combination, it is recommended to analyze acetone and pararosaniline fixation routinely side by side to determine the optimal fixation procedure.
Supported by the EC Biomed-2 grant BMT4-CT-97-2131 and NWO-NDRF grant 014-80-007. We thank Dr R. Toes for providing the anti-CD40-injected C57Bl/6 mouse spleen material, Dr B. 't Hart (BPRC; Rijswijk, The Netherlands) for providing the marmoset EAE material, and the Netherlands Brain Bank (coordinator Dr. R. Ravid) for providing the MS brain tissues. We thank all suppliers of monoclonal antibodies for their kind gifts (Drs P. van der Meide, P. Leenen, M de Boer, H.F.J. Savelkoul). Furthermore we would like to thank Dr P. Leenen and Dr B. 't Hart for critical reading of this manuscript, and T. van Os for the photomicrographs. Received for publication June 10, 1999; accepted August 31, 1999.
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