With our lectin staining on paraffin embedded tissue we use Avidin/Biotin 
blocking prior to antibody application.  Some protocols we do use HIER before 
the blocking.  One important item is that some lectins require a specific 
diluent.  The dilution can be as high as 1:12,000.  Lectins are well known for 
binding with multiple tissue entities, sometimes you can reduce the staining on 
unwanted tissue entities by reducing your incubation time or dilution.  We do 
not use serum blocking.

For PNA we use:
PNA Diluent
Calcium Chloride…………………..…………………  0.0111 gm.
Magnesium Chloride…………………………………  0.0203 gm.
Manganese Chloride…………………………………  0.0125 gm.  
Distilled Water……………………………………….….  100.0 ml

James Watson HT  ASCP
GNF  Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation
Tel    858-332-4647
Fax   858-812-1915
jwat...@gnf.org

-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
[mailto:histonet-boun...@lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of 
koelli...@comcast.net
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 9:53 AM
To: M.O.
Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Staining FFPE with biotinylated SNA - how to block?



Hi Merissa, 

don't know if you got any private idea responses so I'll throw in my opinion.  
I would always worry about some of the things you are mentioning and that are 
standard thoughts regarding biotin block, retrieval, etc in IHC. 

But I would think about your serum, which I steadfastly avoided with SNA or any 
lectin I used.   Lectins look at glyco components and serum (or serum 
substitutes) can be full of glycoproteins and the target then is the blocking 
serum for your lectin which can cause bad background.  I did and would use 
washes, diluents, etc that had NO serum or milk or anything like that in them.  
You can make your own, completely free of potentially having glycoproteins or 
Vector sells some.  For some lectins (look at a list of target sugars) you 
maybe can get by with serum or milk and such to block but many I've found you 
just can't. 


Ray (still in, whoever would have guessed, once again rainy Seattle) 

----- Original Message -----

From: "M.O." <modz9...@gmail.com>
To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2014 5:59:51 PM
Subject: [Histonet] Staining FFPE with biotinylated SNA - how to block? 

Hello Histonet! 

I ran a trial on FFPE mouse samples with a biotinylated lectin, SNA from 
vector.  The SNA is Biotinylated Sambucus Nigra Lectin (Elderberry).  I have 
never stained with anything like this, so I ran a test. 

I deparaffinized, blocked with NGS, incubated overnight at 4C with the diluted 
biotinylated SNA.  On the second day, I used Vector's ABC kit and alkaline 
phosphatase (red) kit. 

Once stained, I noticed a lot of background.  After looking into the blocking 
step, would a biotin/avidin blocking step be the correct step instead of a 
serum because I don't have a secondary?  How do I know what needs to be blocked 
- biotin, avidin or both?  Is there a way to do this without a kit and use 
solutions I may have in my lab? 

Thank you for your help! 

Sincerely,
Merissa
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