An ultrastructural double-labelling method: immunohistochemical localization of cell adhesion molecule L1 on HRP-labelled developing corticospinal tract axons in the rat

Summary A double electronmicroscopical (EM) staining was developed which enabled the ultrastructural localization of cell adhesion molecules on the outer axonal membrane of horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-labelled axons in the developing central nervous system (CNS). HRP was used to anterogradely trace outgrowing corticospinal tract (CST) axons in ten-day-old rats. After visualization of HRP using tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) as a chromogen and ammoniumheptamolybdate (AHM) as a stabilizer at pH 6.0 as described previously (Joosten et al. 1987, J Histochem Cytochem 35:623–626) an additional diaminobenzindine (DAB)-Ni incubation was carried out for further stabilization. Subsequently a pre-embedding immunoperoxidase (DAB) staining was executed for detection of cell adhesion molecule L1. Using this procedure anterogradely HRP-labelled CST axons were recognizable by a granular black TMB-AHM-DABNi reaction product at the light microscopic (LM) level, which clearly contrasts to the relatively homogeneous brown L1-immunostaining. Electronmicroscopically HRP-labelled CST axons were characterized by the presence of an intracellular crystaloid TMB-AHM-DABNi reaction product which made identification of CST axons rather easy, whereas the L1-DAB precipitate could be noted on the outer axonal membrane of the HRP-labelled CST axons, marking the presence of the L1 cell adhesion molecule. In addition the procedure described in this report preserves ultrastructural details of developing neural tissue. In conclusion, the method presented can be employed in combined HRP-tracing and immunohistochemical electronmicroscopic studies.