Tyramide Signal Amplification (TSA)
This tyramide signal amplification (TSA) protocol can be used to detect signals in peroxidase-labeled samples by either immunostaining or in situ hybridization. All incubations are carried out on a shaker.
Reagents:
- 2-4% formaldehyde, pH 7.4
- phosphate buffer (PBS), pH 7.4
- PBT: 0.1% Tween-20; PBS, pH 7.4
- 1mM sodium azide in PBT
- 30% H2O2
- 1 mg/ml fluorescently labeled tyramide in labeling grade DMSO
Optionally:
- dextran sulfate (DS)
- 4-iodophenol
- acidic glycine buffer: 0.1 M glycine; pH 2.0; 0.1% Tween-20
Protocol:
- Fix the sample in the required manner. Usually, fixation is carried out with cold 2-4% formaldehyde (pH 7.4). Wash the sample from the fixative with phosphate buffer (PBS, pH 7.4) and PBT (0.1% Tween-20; PBS, pH 7.4).
- Inhibit endogenous peroxidase activity by incubating the sample in an inhibitory solution (1 mM sodium azide in PBT) for 30-60 min at room temperature.
- Thoroughly wash the sample from the inhibitory solution with three 10-minute incubations in PBT at room temperature.
- Perform all immunochemistry or in situ hybridization steps to label samples with peroxidase-conjugated antibodies.
- Wash the sample thoroughly to remove antibodies with three 10-minute incubations in PBT at room temperature.
- Prepare reaction buffer immediately before use. To do this, dilute PBT twice with 30% H2O2, 1:100 each time, to the final concentration of 0.003% (1:10000).
- 2% dextran sulfate (DS) is used to increase the viscosity of the reaction mixture.
- 500 µg/ml 4-iodophenol is used to enhance the peroxidase reaction. It is more convenient to use as a 1:200 dilution of the stock solution (100 mg/ml in ethanol).
- Add 1 to 10 μg/ml labeled tyramide to the reaction buffer (the optimal concentration must be determined experimentally). Mix by shaking.
- Incubate the sample with the reaction buffer in the dark at room temperature for 5–30 min (the exact time is determined experimentally; 15 min can be used as a starting point).
- Stop the reaction by incubating the sample in inhibitor solution (1 mM sodium azide in PBT) for 10 min at room temperature in the dark.
- Wash the sample with PBS three times for 10 min.
- To repeat the antibody-TSA labeling cycle, treat the sample with acidic glycine buffer (0.1% Tween-20; 0.1 M glycine, pH 2.0) for 10 min at room temperature. This procedure detaches antigen-bound antibodies without affecting the tyramide covalently bound to proteins.
- Mount the sample under a coverslip using a mounting medium.
Optionally. Instead of 1 mM sodium azide, 3% H2O2 in PBT or 0.02 N HCl can be used for inhibition. For subsequent immunochemistry, this stage can be combined with blocking nonspecific binding of antibodies. To do this, blocking serum or 1% BSA must be added to the azide or H2O2 solutions.
Note! In the case of low background and for in situ hybridization, this step can be skipped; go directly to step 4.
Optionally. To increase the sensitivity of the method, the following components can be added to the reaction mixture (separately or in combination):
Troubleshooting
PROBLEM | RECOMMENDED ACTION |
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Low signal |
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Excess signal |
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Low resolution or blurry signal |
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High background |
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Bright dots on background |
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