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Indiana University School of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Service Cores

Immunohistochemistry Research Core

The Department of Pathology at Indiana University School of Medicine partners with IU Health hospitals to offer resources and support biomedical researchers through the Immunohistochemistry (IHC) Research Core. Projects supported by this facility include histologic and immunohistochemical labeling of cells or tissue sections as well as collaborations with surgical pathologists.

Information on methods and costs are provided to researchers upon request to assist in writing grant budgets. Pricing is competitive and varies depending on the type of service, volume of specimens and need for reagents or human resources. State-of-the-art equipment is supported by American Society of Clinical Pathology (ASCP)-certified professionals.

Consultation with the center’s research specialist or faculty is available as part of any new experiment. The service provided can apply both traditional methods and more recent technical developments to meet the investigator’s needs.

Request Service

Investigators interested in support services from the Immunohistochemical Core Lab can complete a request through iLab.

immunohistochemistry sample with pink and teal cells
immunohistochemistry sample with blue and brown dots

Services and Support

Histopathology support for the preparation of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded histologic tissue sections are available. Services include retrieving research material, embedding, sectioning and staining of tissue sections. Stains include routine hematoxylin and eosin as well as special stains (e.g., for infectious organisms or structural proteins).

For immunostaining of frozen or paraffin-embedded tissue sections, both traditional “brown stains” (horseradish peroxidase+DAB), alkaline phosphatase (AP) in conjunction with multible colors for the purpose of double labeling and fluorescent-labeled probes are available. Specimens may require processing by hand or may be run on one of two Dako automated immunostainers or the new Omnis platform. Collaborations may be negotiated with pathologists for interpretation.

Our staff is experienced in preparing unstained slides in RNAase free conditions for spatial transcriptomics experiments using Visium, Cytassist and Xenium platforms in the Medical Genomics Core. 

The Immunohistochemical Core Lab offers a number of clinical antibodies for immunolabeling primarily human tissue sections. Many of these antibodies do not cross-react with other species. If an investigator requires antibodies that are not on the list of those available, (s)he can order them through a purchasing agent and ship the reagents to his/ her laboratory. The Immunohistochemical Lab staff can titer the new antibodies on the investigator’s tissue samples. The investigator should provide positive and negative control tissues.

Sample drop off and pick up

The IHC Research Core is located in the IUH Pathology Laboratory, room 4001. 

Samples may be dropped off on the research counter located in room 4001.  If you need access to the 4th floor, please let us know and we can help facilitate building access to drop off and pick up samples. Samples may also be tubed to our attention to 950.

Once you have received confirmation that your order has been completed it can be picked up on the same counter where it was dropped off in Room 4001. If you have access to a tube station, samples can be returned via the tube system. Please note this in the iLab comments section.

For antibodies in the process of optimization, virtual slide images can be shared with investigator and collaborating pathologist via the IU digital slide archive.

Jam Prakash by OMNIS machine

Jam Prakash by OMNIS machine

Project Proposals

Large scale projects (>20 slides) or multiple antibodies or those needing pathologist involvement need to be proposed to Dr. Idrees or Dr. Warren and approved before they can be submitted to the IHC Research Core.

If your project requires optimizing an antibody, please reach out to identify a collaborating pathologist or view the Department of Pathology faculty list.

After discussion with a collaborating pathologist, the project must be submitted via iLab.

Small scale requests (<20 slides) may be submitted to the IHC Research Core without prior approval. Optimizing of an antibody requires a pathologist collaborator prior to submission on iLab.

Timelines should be discussed and depend on other work volumes and ongoing projects.

Lauren by HE Stainer and Cover slipper

Lee Ann Baldridge by DAKO Link 48's

iLab Information

Order Submissions

Orders are to be submitted to the IHC Research Core via the iLab system. Create an account if you do not already have one.

Once you have your iLab account, visit our core page. Log in, then go to the “request services” tab at the top, select the “Initiate request” button to the right of the page. We can supply a sample iLab request form for your reference.

Please note all necessary details of your project in the Project Description box in the iLab request form. Also, if you have a protocol or specimen list you may attach the file to the iLab order and note it in the comments.

Visit our iLab page

Help and Training

Find iLab FAQs and training videos on the IU School of Medicine iLab website.

Email the iLab helpdesk at ilabiusm@iu.edu.

There is a help link in iLab with step-by-step instructions and FAQs. Contact Agilent at ilab-support@agilent.com.

Lee Ann by DAKO Link 48

Lauren Kennedy by automated H&E Stainer / Cover Slipper