Myogenin Monoclonal Antibody (ZM149)

Product Specific Information

This product is diluted and in a ready-to-use formulation.

A recommended positive control tissue for this product is Rhabdomyosarcoma, however positive controls are not limited to this tissue type.

The primary antibody is intended for laboratory professional use in the detection of the corresponding protein in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue stained in manual qualitative immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing. This antibody is intended to be used after the primary diagnosis of tumor has been made by conventional histopathology using non-immunological histochemical stains.

Myogenin is a member of the MyoD family of myogenic basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors that also includes MyoD, Myf-5, and MRF4 (also known as herculinor Myf-6). MyoD family members are expressed exclusively in skeletal muscle and play a key role in activating myogenesis by binding to enhancer sequences of muscle-specific genes. The regulatory domain of MyoD is approximately 70 amino acids in length and includes both a basic DNA binding motif and a bHLH dimerization motif. MyoD family members share about 80% amino acid homology in their bHLH motifs. Anti-myogenin labels the nuclei of myoblasts in developing muscle tissue and is expressed in tumor cell nuclei of rhabdomyosarcoma and some leiomyosarcomas. Positive nuclear staining may occur in Wilms’ tumor.

Antibody is used with formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded sections. Pretreatment of deparaffinized tissue with heat-induced epitope retrieval or enzymatic retrieval is recommended. In general, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining techniques allow for the visualization of antigens via the sequential application of a specific antibody to the antigen (primary antibody), a secondary antibody to the primary antibody (link antibody), an enzyme complex and a chromogenic substrate with interposed washing steps. The enzymatic activation of the chromogen results in a visible reaction product at the antigen site. Results are interpreted using a light microscope and aid in the differential diagnosis of pathophysiological processes, which may or may not be associated with a particular antigen.

A positive tissue control must be run with every staining procedure performed. This tissue may contain both positive and negative staining cells or tissue components and serve as both the positive and negative control tissue. External Positive control materials should be fresh autopsy/biopsy/surgical specimens fixed, processed and embedded as soon as possible in the same manner as the patient sample (s). Positive tissue controls are indicative of correctly prepared tissues and proper staining methods. The tissues used for the external positive control materials should be selected from the patient specimens with well-characterized low levels of the positive target activity that gives weak positive staining. The low level of positivity for external positive controls is designed to ensure detection of subtle changes in the primary antibody sensitivity from instability or problems with the staining methodology. A tissue with weak positive staining is more suitable for optimal quality control and for detecting minor levels of reagent degradation.

Internal or external negative control tissue may be used depending on the guidelines and policies that govern the organization to which the end user belongs to. The variety of cell types present in many tissue sections offers internal negative control sites, but this should be verified by the user. The components that do not stain should demonstrate the absence of specific staining, and provide an indication of non-specific background staining. If specific staining occurs in the negative tissue control sites, results with the patient specimens must be considered invalid.

Target Information

Myogenin is a muscle-specific transcription factor that can induce myogenesis in a variety of cell types in tissue culture. It is a member of a large family of proteins related by sequence homology, the helix-loop-helix proteins. It is essential for the development of functional skeletal muscle.