Isotopic and fluorescent in situ hybridization

Hybridization with S35 UTP labeled antisense RNA probes followed by autoradiography allow very sensitive detection and cellular localization of mRNAs and Determination of the effect pf physiological or pathophysiological conditions on the expression level of a transcript in a certain cell type or brain region. With recent developments, the fluorescent in situ hybridization methods has similar sensitivity compared to the isotopic methods, but these methods provide better spatial localization of signals. Combination of these methods or the in situ hybridization methods with immunocytochemistry allow co-localization studies or cell type specific examination of the transcriptional activity of a gene.