Improved mRNA in situ hybridization on formaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue using signal amplification with different haptenized tyramides.

We report an optimized in situ hybridization (ISH) protocol with a rapid signal amplification procedure based on catalyzed reporter deposition (CARD) to increase the sensitivity of non-isotopic mRNA ISH on formaldehyde-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue. The CARD method is based on the deposition of haptenized tyramide molecules in the vicinity of hybridized probes catalyzed by horseradish peroxidase. Commercially available and newly synthesized haptenized tyramides, including digoxigenin-, biotin-, di- and trinitrophenyl- as well as fluorescein-tyramide, were compared. The haptenized tyramides were visualized using peroxidase conjugated anti-hapten antibodies followed by the diaminobenzidine reaction. As a test system, we applied digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotides to detect insulin and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide mRNA in pancreatic endocrine tumors and liver metastases. Our results indicate that specificity, sensitivity, and applicability of oligonucleotide mRNA ISH can be significantly improved by using chemically digoxigenin-labeled oligonucleotide probes and signal amplification by CARD. Furthermore, all tested tyramides provided approximately equal amplification efficiency. In conclusion, CARD signal amplification should further promote mRNA ISH studies on paraffin-embedded tissues and allow for multiple-target nucleic acid detection in situ.