Insulin Monoclonal Antibody (ZM83)

Product Specific Information

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

A recommended positive control tissue for this product is Pancreas, 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.

Antibodies recognizes a polypeptide which is identified as insulin, a 51-amino acid polypeptide composed of A and B chains connected through the C-peptide. Proinsulin, which has very little biological activity, is cleaved by proteases within its cell of origin into the insulin molecule and the C-terminal basic residue. Insulin enhances membrane transport of glucose, amino acids, and certain ions. It also promotes glycogen storage, formation of triglycerides, and synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. Deficiency of insulin results in diabetes mellitus. The main storage site for insulin is the pancreatic islets. Antibodies to insulin are important as beta-cell and insulinoma marker.

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

Insulin is a peptide hormone secreted by beta cells of the pancreatic islets. It regulates carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism by enhancing membrane transport of glucose, amino acids, and certain ions. It also promotes glycogen storage, formation of triglycerides and synthesis of proteins and nucleic acids. Insulin is 51-amino acid polypeptide product produced from a precursor peptide, proinsulin. Proinsulin is post-translationally cleaved into two chains (peptide A and peptide B) that are covalently linked via two disulfide bonds and one molecule of C-peptide. Insulin deficiency results in diabetes mellitus, one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Insulin is also present in tumors of b-cell origin such as insulinoma.