detecting cytokeratins

[Marija]

Hi!
I was browsing through the forum and I wasn't able to find anything about my problem/question so I decided to open a new topic (I hope this kind of topic doesn't exist yet and if it does I apologize for missing it).

OK, I have a question regarding the detection of cytokeratins. When we try to detect cytokeratins why do we use immunocytochemical methods or in situ hybridization and NOT autohistoradiography?

I'd really appreciate it if someone can answer my question, 'cause I'm preparing for a test on my university and it's really frustrating not knowing where to find this answer (I was looking in my book and found nothing).

Thanks.

[aHerraez]

Hi Marija
Can you specify what do you mean by autohistoradiography? To me, it sounds like an autoradiography of a histological preparation, and that would fit within cytochemical methods. The use of radioactivity or fluorescence for the detection doesn't change the rationale of the methods, it's just a convenience.

[JGK]

I couldnt find a definition for autohistoradiography on the web.However, breaking it down into compnent s does it involve the use of a radiolabeled chemical to bind to the cytokeratin in order to produce an image on an autoradiograph?

Maybe there isn'ta material that will bind successfully to the cytokeratin

[Marija]

Hello to both of you. I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier. Sometimes it's hard to translate our (Slovenian) expressions to English, but I was sure the expression "autohistoradiography" was often used (I also found it on the internet). Anyway, I got the answer  - we don't use autohistoradiography 'cause it takes too much time (we often try to analyze cytokeratins to detect cancer/tumors and that's why we need to be as fast as possible).

Thanks anyway for your help. And if you still want to know what I meant by "autohistoradiography" I would be happy to tell you, just let me know (so I won't be dealing with my bad English for nothing). But you both kind of got the right picture (by telling from your posts), so I think the only problem was in my confusing expression. 

[Borek]

Sometimes it's hard to translate our (Slovenian)

As if translating from Polish was easier