Semantic resources project/Antibodies/Revised Methods/Immunostaining

Description
IS: Immunostaining

Outline
A general term for a method of detecting the presence of a protein by means of an antibody which either carries with it a fluorescent dye, or is attached to some other mechanism which allows for the visible detection of the antibody after binding to the antigen.

Used in both immunocytochemistry (staining of cells) and immunohistochemistry (staining of tissue samples). Includes several other technqiues, such as
 * Western blotting
 * ELISA

Ontology Terms
OBI: "staining"
 * http://purl.obofoundry.org/obo/OBI_0302887
 * OBI Browser

"Staining is a process which results in the addition a class-specific (DNA, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) dye to a substrate to qualify or quantify the presence of a specific compound."

Definition
Immunostaining is a staining which results from the addition of an antibody to a substrate containing a protein. The antibody is linked to some method (either a dye or another chemical element) which permits the visual detection of the antibody binding (the stain).