.png)
HistoNews: Multi-color Immunohistochemistry — Why Colour Matters in Tissue Research
- Eghosa Arovo
- 12 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Multi-color IHC lets researchers visualise more in one slide — see how this technique enhances tissue research.
Introduction
This week at LabNexus we’ve been exploring how coloured chromogens and multiplex immunohistochemistry (IHC) can elevate histology research. The recent overview Multi-color Immunohistochemistry (IHC) on News-Medical highlights the value of using more than one colour in IHC to visualise multiple targets within a single tissue section — providing spatial context and richer biological insight.
In this blog we review that article in the context of your own research workflows and explain why moving beyond single colours can transform tissue studies.
What the News-Medical Article Teaches Us
According to News-Medical, traditional IHC has historically been limited by the number of colours that can be reliably used, often requiring separate serial sections to study more than one antigen. This is time-consuming, tissue-intensive, and sometimes impractical when sample availability is limited.
Multi-color IHC solves this by enabling the simultaneous visualisation of multiple targets on a single tissue section, preserving tissue architecture, morphology, and spatial distribution in a way that serial sections cannot. This means that researchers can identify co-expressed signals and interactions between cell types in their native context — without losing the structural relationships that are critical to tissue interpretation.
The article also emphasises that while fluorescent multiplexing is common, brightfield multi-colour IHC using chromogens offers a permanent, archive-ready staining that can be revisited and interpreted repeatedly — a practical advantage for long-term research datasets.
Why Multi-Color and Multiplex IHC Matters to Research
In tissue research — especially in cancer and immunology — understanding how different proteins are arranged relative to one another can be critical. For example:
Where do immune cells locate in relation to tumour cells?
How do stromal and tumour compartments interact?
Are proliferative markers co-localised with specific cell populations?
Multi-colour IHC answers these questions by allowing multiple antigens to be visualised in the same tissue section, each shown with a distinct chromogen. This preserves tissue context and allows researchers to interpret interactions directly, without needing to overlay multiple slides.
This approach is particularly useful when studying complex environments like the tumour microenvironment or immune infiltration, where the position of cell types relative to each other is as important as their presence.
Connecting the News to Your Staining Work
This week you’ve been learning about using different coloured chromogens such as red, purple, teal, yellow, green, silver, and classic DAB in IHC. Use of a palette like this enables you to design multi-colour panels that clearly differentiate multiple antigens within the same histological section.
Multiplex IHC — whether chromogenic or fluorescence-based — builds on this by enabling you to detect several markers at once, helping you see cell relationships, co-localisation patterns, and spatial organisation without consuming extra tissue. Many multi-colour IHC protocols (including brightfield chromogenic strategies) are designed to avoid chromogen cross-reaction and preserve tissue morphology.
The News-Medical article highlights exactly why this progression matters: it streamlines research workflows, makes better use of precious samples, and allows outcomes (like immune cell co-localisation or marker expression patterns) to be interpreted more holistically.
LabNexus Supports Multi-Color and Multiplex IHC
At LabNexus, we specialise in advanced histology services for research, including multi-colour and multiplex chromogenic IHC panels. Our capabilities include:
Chromogenic staining using a range of colours — red, purple, teal, blue, green, yellow, DAB and silver
Multiplex IHC workflows that reveal multiple antigens on one slide
High-quality tissue processing, sectioning, and imaging
Digital slide scanning for advanced image analysis
Whether your project involves studying tumour biology, immune landscapes, or cellular co-localisation in complex tissues, we can help you design and run multi-colour IHC assays that deliver clear, interpretable results with quick turnaround and affordable pricing.
Our experienced team and state-of-the-art platforms ensure that your multiplex staining is robust and reproducible — helping you generate the meaningful insights your research needs.
Conclusion
Multi-color Immunohistochemistry offers a compelling upgrade to traditional single-colour IHC by enabling multiple proteins to be visualised in context on the same tissue section. This improves spatial insight, preserves rare samples, and supports more sophisticated biological interpretation — exactly what modern tissue and cancer research demands.
If you’re ready to elevate your histology research with multi-colour or multiplex staining, LabNexus has the expertise, tools, and staining options to support you.
References
Multi-color Immunohistochemistry (IHC). News-Medical. Available at: https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/Multi-color-Immunohistochemistry-(IHC).aspx
Multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC): A technical deep dive for the modern researcher. Abcam Knowledge Centre.
Comments