Immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence work: the advantage of using the Ventana Discovery Ultra

Thanks to a donation from the Institut du cancer de Montréal, the Molecular Pathology core facility has had a Ventana Discovery Ultra from Roche for over a year.

This equipment enables immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and even in situ hybridization (ISH) to be carried out automatically. Research teams supply the required primary antibodies or probes, and the core facility does the rest.

This equipment is used on a service-only basis, but certain steps can be performed manually by the research teams if required to reduce costs.

During an experiment, each slide, which carries a QR code unique to the protocol chosen, is isolated flat in a drawer so that a different protocol can be applied in a personalized way.

The advantage of the Discovery Ultra is the flexibility it offers when creating protocols (adding blocking steps, changing incubation times, etc.). Up to 30 slides can be processed at the same time, independently of each other, with individual titration.

This opens up an infinite number of possibilities for customers to carry out rigorous and reproducible experiments.

Authors: Véronique Barrès and Liliane Meunier, Core Facilities’ Echo committee