Wx. Lu et al., A RIBONUCLEASE-RESISTANT METHOD OF IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION HISTOCHEMISTRY IN RAT-BRAIN TISSUE, Journal of neuroscience methods, 65(1), 1996, pp. 69-76
Two major problems limiting neurobiological applications of in situ hy
bridization are: (1) contamination by ribonuclease (RNase), which is d
ifficult to avoid and therefore makes the method difficult to establis
h for many laboratories, and (2) lack of reproducibility, which makes
the method inadequate for detecting and quantifying changes in mRNA le
vels. We have developed a modified method of in situ hybridization whi
ch addresses these problems. RNase resistance is afforded by the inclu
sion of RNase inhibitors during steps in which mRNA is vulnerable to R
Nase digestion, alleviating the need to maintain RNase-free conditions
during experiments. These changes result in higher levels of specific
hybridization, while maintaining low background. In addition, a high
level of reproducibility is obtained, both for sections obtained from
the same animal and for corresponding sections obtained from different
animals. This method has been characterized for preproenkephalin and
glutamate receptor GluR1-4 mRNAs.