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Immunofluorescent Identification of Melanocytes in Murine Hair Follicles

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Summary

Immunocytochemical identification of skin cells are difficult due to numerous endogenous autofluorescent components within the cell and the environment. This is particularly evident in hair follicles. This paper reports on a serendipitous modification to an existing method which results in a drastically reduced background fluorescence. Immediately after antigen retrieval, sections exposed to 0.3% hydrogen peroxide in methanol for 30 min at room temperature exhibited low background fluorescence, increased antigenicity and revealed quantifiable numbers of melanocytes. This method is applicable to both human and mouse melanocytes particularly in the hair follicle.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Dr. Vince Hearing (NIH) for the gift of the \(\alpha\)PEP8 antibody and Mrs. Melaney Peterson for help with histological preparation. This work was supported in part by the Medical Research Council of South Africa through a grant (SHK) and postdoctoral fellowship (LMD) and a National Research Foundation student bursary and UCT (DG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Biology, Anatomy Building, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town Medical School, 7925 Cape Town, Observatory, South Africa

    Dheshnie Govender, Lester M. Davids & Susan H. Kidson

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  1. Dheshnie Govender
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  2. Lester M. Davids
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  3. Susan H. Kidson
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Correspondence to Lester M. Davids.

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Govender, D., Davids, L.M. & Kidson, S.H. Immunofluorescent Identification of Melanocytes in Murine Hair Follicles. J Mol Hist 37, 1–3 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-005-9011-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10735-005-9011-8

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