4-Hydroxy-2-Nonenal (4-HNE) Staining by Anti-HNE Antibody

In almost all aerobic cells, the oxygen metabolism generates reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide, hydroxyl radicals, and hydrogen peroxide. These ROS can peroxidize membrane lipids of a cell and its organelles, and can also attack
DNA
or protein (
1
). During the process of lipid peroxidation, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), especially linoliec acid, arachidonic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid, in biomembranes are degraded to a great variety of water-soluble, short-chain carbonyl compounds (
2
). Malonaldehyde and other aldehydes, such as alkaneals, 2-alkenals, hydroxyalkenals (
3
), and phospholipid-bound aldehydes (
4
) are generated in the lipid peroxidation process. The major representative of 4-hydroxyalkenals, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), is the main product formed from omega 6-PUFA (
5
). 4-HNE, a highly toxic aldehyde product of lipid peroxidation (
5
), is a sensitive marker of oxidative damage and lipid peroxidation and can be evaluated by immunohistochemical staining using an anti-4-HNE monoclonal antibody (MAb) (
6
–
8
) and labeled goat anti-mouse IgG antibody (
9
).