Genetic methods of antibody generation offer a highly tuneable tool for the production of target specific reagents suitable for a wide range of applications, including immunohistochemistry. The direct linkage between binder phenotype and genotype enables the rapid identification and manipulation of specific binders into formats suitable for highly specific and sensitive detection of targets from soluble proteins to individual components of multi-protein structures within the context of living tissues. Here we review the types of genetic methods employed and binder formats available and demonstrate how mining huge combinatorial repertoires of binders can deliver diverse and exquisitely sensitive tools for the use in immunohistochemistry. Finally, we offer a perspective on how this approach might be further refined to routinely deliver binders for specific use in immunohistochemical studies.
Keywords: Antibody; Fixation; Immunohistochemistry; Phage display.
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