Photochemical pre-bleaching of formalin-fixed archival prostate tissues significantly reduces autofluorescence to facilitate multiplex immunofluorescence staining

Abstract

The characterization of tissues using multiple different primary antibodies detected by secondary antibodies, each possessing a different colored fluorophore (multiplex immunofluorescence), is a powerful technique but often impaired by endogenous autofluorescence present in the specimen. Our current research involves the use of multiplex immunofluorescence to identify specific cell phenotypes within the tumor microenvironment in archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human prostate cancer tissue specimens. These specimens frequently possess high levels of autofluorescence, in part due to the biological age of the tissues and long storage times. This autofluorescence interferes with and, in the worst cases, completely obscures the desired immunofluorescent signals, thus impeding analyses by decreasing signal-to-noise. Here, we demonstrate that a recently published protocol for photochemical bleaching significantly decreases autofluorescence (80% average decrease of the brightest autofluorescent signals), across the visible spectrum, in fixed, archival prostate tissue specimens from aged men, that have been sectioned onto glass slides and stored for several months. Importantly, the method is compatible with subsequent immunofluorescence staining and yields markedly improved signal-to-noise. Inclusion of this method should facilitate studies employing multiplex immunofluorescence in sections cut from archival fixed human prostate tissues.