Analysis of Stem Cells and Their Activity in Human Skeletal Muscles by Immunohistochemistry.

Immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a frequently used technique in life science and in clinic diagnostic. IHC is a high precision method to localize different cell types or their expression in tissue. Over the years, different approaches of IHC have emerged, and the technique has become more and more sophisticated. However, the principles still remains: the inherent and spontaneous non-covalent interaction between an antibody and (hypothetical) any target of interest. That means, using this technique allows you to analyze a wide range of histological tissues (muscles, organs, neurons, etc.) from humans or animals under the microscope. Literally, IHC makes the invisible to the human eye clearly visible. In this chapter, we present an approach how to analyze human skeletal muscle tissue for content and activity of muscle stem cells, termed satellite cells.