title: Non-isotopic in situ hybridization to detect chick Sox gene mRNA in plastic-embedded tissue.
abstract: In situ hybridization techniques have rapidly become widely used by the molecular biologist for the localization of specific nucleic acid sequences in individual cells or tissues. We describe the demonstration of Sox gene mRNA in chick tissue that has been embedded in the plastic methyl methacrylate to permit the preparation of sections for high-resolution light microscopy. Polymerization of the plastic was induced by using either N,N-dimethylaniline or N,N-3,5-tetramethylaniline. The in situ hybridization technique used was non-isotopic and used a digoxigenin-labelled probe detected with an antibody bound to alkaline phosphatase, which was then localized using X-phosphate-Nitro BT as a substrate-chromogen mix. Various pretreatments of the tissue sections were investigated, including the use of proteinase K, and heat-mediated techniques using a microwave oven and a pressure cooker. The best results were produced using pressure cooking on tissue in which the plastic had been chemically polymerized with N,N-3,5-tetramethylaniline. For the demonstration of Sox 11, this combination had a critical influence on the staining results, but for Sox 21 all protocols used produced good staining.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University Hospital, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Church
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hand
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rex
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Scotting
mesh_terms: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D019286:Endopeptidase K / Q000378:metabolism; D006361:Heating; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods*; D008768:Methylmethacrylates; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis*; D055749:SOXB2 Transcription Factors; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D016610:Tissue Embedding; D014157:Transcription Factors
chemical_list: D000814:Aniline Compounds; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; D008768:Methylmethacrylates; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D055749:SOXB2 Transcription Factors; D055751:SOXC Transcription Factors; C490793:Sox11 protein, mouse; C484490:Sox21 protein, Gallus gallus; D014157:Transcription Factors; C015157:N,N-dimethylaniline; D019286:Endopeptidase K; C021313:methylaniline