In situ hybridization

Principle
In situ hybridization (ISH) uses a labelled complementary nucleic acid (the probe) to localise a specific DNA or RNA target sequence. The target molecule is localised in a cell or in a tissue (in situ). For some samples, the hybridisation step has to be preceded by sectioning to provide sufficient access to the target molecules. In other cases, the entire sample can be probed (e.g. embryos, organs = whole mount ISH).

ISH differs from immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence, which typically detects proteins via a specific antibody.

Related pages on OWW

 * Maheshri lab: Fluorescent in situ hybridization for mRNA detection in yeast
 * Poly A RNA in situ protocol