Multiple Antibodies Are Effective at Labeling S-opsin Cones

Cones are a type of photoreceptor found in the retina that initiates visual processes. Cones can respond to different wavelengths of light and therefore allow for color vision. They are also responsible for high acuity and daylight vision (Ueno et al 2018). Immunohistochemistry is a technique that can be used to label and visualize specific types of cones in the mouse retina. A primary antibody is used to bind to a specific antigen, such as s-opsin in cones. A secondary antibody with a fluorescent marker then binds to the primary antibody to allow for amplification and visualization. Through effectively labeling s-cones with specific antibodies, different retinal degenerative diseases and treatments for them can be assessed based on the expression of these labeled cones. Previously, a primary polyclonal antibody was used to stain for s-opsin known as goat anti-s-opsin. However, this antibody is no longer commercially available, so the purpose of this study was to characterize a new primary polyclonal antibody that can stain for s-opsin in order to replace the previous one. The replacement antibody is called rabbit anti-s-opsin. Through this study, it was found that both antibodies label the same number of s-opsin cones because there was no significant difference in the number of immunopositive s-cones that were stained with goat anti-s-opsin and rabbit anti-s-opsin at any of the tested optic nerve eccentricities. Thus, rabbit anti-s-opsin can be used to replace goat anti-s-opsin in order to label s-cones