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Histochemical and Immunohistochemical Methods for the Identification of Proteoglycans

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Histochemistry of Single Molecules

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 2566))

Abstract

Proteoglycans (PGs) are non-fibrillar extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules composed by a protein core and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains. These molecules are present in all tissues playing essential structural, biomechanical, and biological roles. In addition, PGs can regulate cell behavior due to their versatility and ability to interact with other ECM molecules, growth factors, and cells. The distribution of PGs can be evaluated by histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Histochemical methods aimed to provide a useful overview of the presence and distribution pattern of certain groups of PGs. In contrast, immunohistochemical procedures aimed the identification of highly specific target molecules. In this chapter we described Alcian Blue, Safranin O, and Toluidine Blue histochemical methods for the screening of PGs in tissue sections. Finally, we describe the immunohistochemical procedures for specific identification of PGs (decorin, biglycan, and versican) in formaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues.

Víctor Carriel and Sebastián San Martín share senior authorship.

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Acknowledgments

Methods described in this chapter were supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Instituto de Salud Carlos III), Grants No FIS PI17-0393, FIS PI20-0318 co-financed by the “Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional ERDF-FEDER European Union”; Grant No P18-RT-5059 by Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (PAIDI 2020), Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucía, España; and Grant A-CTS-498-UGR18 by Programa Operativo FEDER Andalucía 2014–2020, Universidad de Granada, Junta de Andalucía, España, co-funded by ERDF-FEDER, the European Union.

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Author notes

  1. David Sánchez-Porras and Juan Varas contributed equally to this chapter.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Histology (Tissue Engineering Group), Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, and Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, Ibs.GRANADA, Granada, Spain

    David Sánchez-Porras, Fabiola Bermejo-Casares & Víctor Carriel

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Escuela de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile

    Juan Varas & Sebastián San Martín

  3. Centro de Investigación Biomédica y Aplicada (CIBAP), Escuela de Medicina, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, (USACH), Santiago, Chile

    Carlos Godoy-Guzmán

Authors
  1. David Sánchez-Porras
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  2. Juan Varas
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  3. Carlos Godoy-Guzmán
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  4. Fabiola Bermejo-Casares
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  5. Sebastián San Martín
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  6. Víctor Carriel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Víctor Carriel .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, PAVIA, Italy

    Carlo Pellicciari

  2. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, PAVIA, Italy

    Marco Biggiogera

  3. Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, VERONA, Italy

    Manuela Malatesta

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Sánchez-Porras, D., Varas, J., Godoy-Guzmán, C., Bermejo-Casares, F., San Martín, S., Carriel, V. (2023). Histochemical and Immunohistochemical Methods for the Identification of Proteoglycans. In: Pellicciari, C., Biggiogera, M., Malatesta, M. (eds) Histochemistry of Single Molecules. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2566. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2675-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2675-7_7

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2674-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2675-7

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