Kc. Warren et al., USE OF METHACRYLATE DE-EMBEDDING PROTOCOLS FOR IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION ON SEMITHIN PLASTIC SECTIONS WITH MULTIPLE DETECTION STRATEGIES, The Journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry, 46(2), 1998, pp. 149-155
New plastic resins are gradually replacing traditional paraffin-embedd
ing in situ hybridization (ISH) strategies. One unique resin that has
not been fully investigated or exploited with respect to light microsc
opic ISH is a methacrylate mixture. The advantage of this resin is its
ability to be removed from tissues postsectioning, dramatically incre
asing hybridization signal compared to that obtained in other plastics
. The goal of this study was to evaluate the general applicability of
the methacrylate embedding acetone de-embedding (MEADE) technique for
ISH investigations. Several high-resolution, high-sensitivity ISH prot
ocols are described, using both end-labeled oligonucleotides and rando
mly primed DNA probes (200-400 sps), signal amplification by catalyzed
reporter deposition (CARD), and chromogenic and fluorescent detection
methods. With slight modification, the MEADE ISH technique permitted
localization of bacterial symbionts in fragile gill tissue and collage
n transcripts in foot tissue of two marine bivalves. MEADE ISH has pro
ved extremely versatile and will likely be suitable for many future ap
plications.