What is mouse on mouse (MOM) background in IHC and how can it be addressed?

"Mouse on mouse" (MOM) background is caused by the anti-mouse secondary antibody binding to endogenous mouse IgG expressed in the tissue resulting in non-specific staining, which can complicate the interpretation of your results. A secondary-only control should be included to assess the potential amount of MOM background in your samples. There are commercially available kits and blocking solutions available that are designed to enable the use of mouse antibodies on mouse tissue. These include M.O.M.® (Mouse on Mouse) Blocking Reagent from Vector Labs and UltraVision™ Quanto Mouse on Mouse from Thermo. We do not routinely use these products in-house so we are not able to recommend one over another.

Last updated: February 27, 2024