Whole-mount immunofluorescence staining of early mouse embryos

Abstract

Immunofluorescence staining enables the visualization of protein expression at a cellular or even sub-nuclear level. Whole-mount staining preserves the three-dimensional spatial information in biological samples allowing a comprehensive interpretation of expression domains. Here we describe the sample processing, protein detection using antibodies and confocal imaging of isolated preimplantation to early postimplantation mouse embryos up to Embryonic day 8.0 (E8.0).