Immunofluorescence is a technique used for light microscopy with a fluorescence microscope and is used primarily on microbiological samples. This technique uses the specificity of antibodies to their antigen to target fluorescent dyes to specific biomolecule targets within a cell, and therefore allows visualization of the distribution of the target molecule through the sample. The specific region an antibody recognizes on an antigen is called an epitope.[1] There have been efforts in epitope mapping since many antibodies can bind the same epitope and levels of binding between antibodies that recognize the same epitope can vary.[2] Additionally, the binding of the fluorophore to the antibody itself cannot interfere with the immunological specificity of the antibody or the binding capacity of its antigen.[3] Immunofluorescence is a widely used example of immunostaining (using antibodies to stain proteins) and is a specific example of immunohistochemistry (the use of the antibody-antigen relationship in tissues). This technique primarily makes use of fluorophores to visualise the location of the antibodies.[4]
Immunofluorescence can be used on tissue sections, cultured cell lines, or individual cells, and may be used to analyze the distribution of proteins, glycans, and small biological and non-biological molecules. This technique can even be used to visualize structures such as intermediate-sized filaments.[5] If the topology of a cell membrane has yet to be determined, epitope insertion into proteins can be used in conjunction with immunofluorescence to determine structures.[6] Immunofluorescence can also be used as a "semi-quantitative" method to gain insight into the levels and localization patterns of DNA methylation since it is a more time consuming method than true quantitative methods and there is some subjectivity in the analysis of the levels of methylation.[7] Immunofluorescence can be used in combination with other, non-antibody methods of fluorescent staining, for example, use of DAPI to label DNA. Several microscope designs can be used for analysis of immunofluorescence samples; the simplest is the epifluorescence microscope, and the confocal microscope is also widely used. Various super-resolution microscope designs that are capable of much higher resolution can also be used.[8]
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Fluorescence microscopy - a method of studying immunology, virology, genetics, histology, anatomy, etc. Luminescent microscopy is based on the phenomenon of photoluminescence. By means of direct and indirect immunofluorescence, clusters of differentiation of immune system cells, receptor apparatus of lymphocytes, monocytes and their structure are investigated. The modification of fluorescence microscopy is laser scanning confocal microscopy, which improves image quality and allows for the construction of three-dimensional reconstruction of the research object.
Fluorescent dyes or fluorophores have been widely used as probes (for physical and biochemical structural parameters), indicators (e.g., for molecular concentrations) or labels/tracers (e.g., for visualization and localization of biomolecules) in various bioassays. While the development of fluorescent dyes has a history many centuries long, their importance has increased due to the recent advancement of new fluorescent dyes, which have been developed along with the development of new biotechnological tools and devices. For example, Laurdan, a naphthalene-based amphiphilic fluorescent dye having as characteristics the ability to penetrate membranes and a large Stokes shift, was developed to study membrane fluidity and dynamics, and its usage was made quite effective by the development of two-photon fluorescent microscopy, a microscope system with two-photon excitation, which enables the detection of signals with less background, less photodamage and more depth discrimination
microscope system with two-photon excitation, which enables the detection of signals with less background, less photodamage and more depth discrimination
For that the development of fluorescent dyes has had quite an impact when accompanied by the development of suitable devices and their applications.