An in situ immunogold method applied to the identification of plasma membrane-associated antigens of skin-infiltrating cells.

This report concerns a pre-embedding in situ double-step immunogold technique to detect cell surface antigens of skin infiltrating cells. Reliable immunogold labeling of cell surface antigens, as well as good ultrastructural preservation of cell and tissue details, were achieved. In comparison with the commonly used method of in situ immunoperoxidase labeling, the present in situ immunogold labeling has some advantages, such as higher specificity, higher sensitivity, and the possibility of estimating the density of the labeling. However, a drawback in the present technique is the compulsory high-magnification analysis of the specimens at the electron microscope, due to the small size of the gold particles.