title: Expression profiling of glycosyltransferases and related enzymes using in situ hybridization.
abstract: In situ hybridization (ISH) is a technique used to detect messenger RNAs (mRNAs) expressed in cells in tissue sections with probes specifically hybridizing to an mRNA of interest. Polysialic acid (PSA) is a unique glycan composed of a linear homopolymer of alpha2,8-linked sialic acid residues and formed by two distinct polysialyltransferases, ST8Sia II and ST8Sia IV. PSA plays an important role in neural development and progression of certain tumors. This chapter describes the use of ISH to detect ST8Sia II and ST8Sia IV mRNAs expressed in human astrocytomas using digoxigenin-labeled RNA probes.
authors.affiliation: Glycobiology Program, Cancer Research Center, The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakayama
authors.forename: Misa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Masami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuda
mesh_terms: D001254:Astrocytoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D004076:Digoxigenin; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D016695:Glycosyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012799:Sialyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D016695:Glycosyltransferases; C046778:CMP-N-acetylneuraminate-poly-alpha-2,8-sialosyl sialyltransferase; D012799:Sialyltransferases; C515117:ST8SIA4 protein, human; D004076:Digoxigenin