title: Unspecific binding of cRNA probe to plaques in two mouse models for Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the pathological deposition of amyloid-β (Aβ) protein-containing plaques. Microglia and astrocytes are commonly attracted to the plaques by an unknown mechanism that may involve cell adhesion. One cell adhesion family of proteins, the cadherins, are widely expressed in the central nervous system. Therefore, our study was designed to map the expression of cadherins in AD mouse brains. A particular focus was on plaques because diverse mRNA-species were found in plaques and their surrounding area in brains of AD patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we used in situ hybridization to visualize cadherin expression in brains of two mouse models for AD (APP/PS1 and APP23).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A variable number of plaques was detected in transgenic brain sections, depending on the probe used. Our first impression was that the cadherin probes visualized specific mRNA expression in plaques and that endogenous staining was unaffected. However, control experiments revealed unspecific binding with sense probes. Further experiments with variations in probe length, probe sequence, molecular tag and experimental procedure lead us to conclude that cRNA probes bind generally and in an unspecific manner to plaques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrate unspecific binding of cRNA probes to plaques in two mouse models for AD. The widespread and general staining of the plaques prevented us from studying endogenous expression of cadherins in transgenic brain by in situ hybridization.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy I, Friedrich Schiller University School of Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schaarschuch
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy I, Friedrich Schiller University School of Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Redies
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy I, Friedrich Schiller University School of Medicine, Jena University Hospital, 07743, Jena, Germany. Nicole.Hertel@med.uni-jena.de.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9631-2345
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hertel
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D058225:Plaque, Amyloid / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015347:RNA Probes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018075:RNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism*; D013194:Staining and Labeling
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D015347:RNA Probes; D018075:RNA, Complementary
keywords: APP/PS1; APP23; Alzheimer’s disease; Cadherin; Cell adhesion; In situ hybridization; Plaques; Unspecific binding