ANTIGEN RETRIEVAL FOR BCL-2 PROTEIN IN FORMALIN-FIXED, PARAFFIN-EMBEDDED SECTIONS

A commercial monoclonal antibody to bcl-2 protein (bcl-2, 124) is usef ul in immunohistochemical detection of this 25 kDa oncogene product in frozen sections. In order to overcome the difficulty in identifying b cl-2 protein in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections, its antige nicity was retrieved by a variety of pretreatments. The heating pretre atment by hydrated autoclaving was the best method for retrieving the antigenicity, and deionized water was the most adequate solution for s oaking sections. This antigen retrieval sequence was helpful to examin e the localization of bcl-2 protein in archival sections of normal lym phoid and nonlymphoid tissues and follicular lymphomas.