Immunohistochemical Analysis of Oxidative Stress and Proliferation Markers

IHC was performed as in a previous study (Yukata et al., 2018 (link)). Briefly, sections were treated with sodium citrate (10 mM, 100°C) (for antigen retrieval) and H₂O₂ (10% in PBS) (for endogenous peroxidase inactivation). Next, the slices were blocked with 10% goat serum, and incubated overnight at 4°C using primary antibodies against β-galactosidase (ab203749, Abcam, Cambridge, UK), 8-hydroxy-2 deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) (ab48508, Abcam, Cambridge, UK), Ki67 (ab15580, Abcam, Cambridge, UK), and PCNA (ab92552, Abcam, Cambridge, UK). Then, biotinylated goat anti-mouse or anti‐rabbit IgG (Sigma, Ohio, USA) were used to treat the slices, before they were incubated with Vectastain Elite ABC reagent (Fisher Scientific, Hampton, New Hampshire, USA) for 30 min. 3,3‐diaminobenzidine was used for staining, followed by counterstaining with hematoxylin. 8-OHdG, Ki67, and PCNA are mostly expressed in the nucleus; p16 and β-galactosidase are expressed in both the nucleus and the cytoplasm. The positive cell rate for 8-OHdG, Ki67 and PCNA is the ratio of the number of positive nuclei to the number of all hematoxylin-labeled cells. The positive cell rate for p16 and β-galactosidase is the ratio of the number of positive nuclei or/and cytoplasm to the number of all hematoxylin-labeled cells.