Journal of Cytology & Histology

Immunohistochemical Detection of Haemoglobin Subunit Epsilon (HBE) in the Developing Mouse Placenta

Abstract

Layla H Al-Kinani, Flaminia Coiacetto, Claire R Sharp, Gabriele Rossi and Wayne K Greene

Introduction: Haemoglobin is a widely studied protein due to its important roles in physiology and pathology. Aberrant expression of haemoglobins, including primitive globins, have been reported in various sites and disease states and may have utility in some instances as diagnostic and/or prognostic markers. Despite this, robust detection of haemoglobin epsilon in the placenta during development by immunohistochemistry has not been well documented.
Aim: To evaluate a polyclonal antibody against human haemoglobin subunit epsilon (HBE) by immunohistochemistry during primitive erythropoiesis in the developing mouse placenta.
Methods and results: An immunohistochemistry protocol was developed using a commercially available antihuman haemoglobin subunit epsilon antibody on the mouse placenta at embryonic day 11.5. Strong and specific cytoplasmic staining was observed in primitive erythroid cells within the blood cell islands. By contrast, the placenta endothelium, mesothelium and mesoderm were all immunonegative for epsilon haemoglobin.
Conclusions: An immunohistochemistry protocol for the specific detection of epsilon haemoglobin was successfully developed using mouse placenta tissue. This assay has utility as a tool for the study of erythropoiesis during development and/or detecting the ectopic expression of epsilon globins in disease states such as cancer.