No, extracting usable protein from DRG tissue fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) and embedded in OCT is generally not recommended for standard protein analysis such as Western blotting or enzymatic assays.

Reasons:

• PFA fixation causes extensive cross-linking of proteins, altering their structure and solubility.
• This cross-linking impairs protein extraction efficiency and can interfere with antibody binding in downstream applications.
• OCT compound (a water-soluble embedding medium) itself can interfere with protein assays if not completely removed.

Alternative Options:

• If your goal is protein extraction, use fresh or flash-frozen DRG tissue without fixation or embedding.
• For fixed tissue, antigen retrieval is used in immunohistochemistry, but not suitable for bulk protein extraction.

PFA-fixed and OCT-embedded tissues are not compatible with standard protein extraction protocols. Use unfixed tissue for reliable protein analysis.

Eli Hanna Farhat , it's not recommended.

You can try extracting protein from 4% PFA-fixed, OCT-embedded DRG tissue using a high-efficiency protein extraction buffer specifically formulated for fixed tissue, combined with high-temperature treatment and cross-linking decoupling steps. However, protein extraction efficiency is low, especially for low-abundance proteins, and antigenic epitopes may be damaged, affecting the sensitivity of downstream applications such as ELISA. If conditions permit, protein extraction from fresh-frozen tissue is recommended.

@Sumia-Essid

If you attempt to use OCT-embedded tissue samples, we can discuss further optimization of your protocol.

The answer to this question comes from MedChemExpress (MCE) Technical Support.

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