Detection of gene and protein expression in mouse embryos and tissue sections

Abstract

Analysis of gene (mRNA and protein) expression patterns is central to the study of embryonic development. This chapter details methods for detecting mRNA and protein expression in whole-mouse embryos and in tissue sections, including mRNA in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and detection of enzymatic and fluorescent protein reporters. We focus on histological methods; molecular methods of measuring gene expression (for example, RNAseq, PCR) are not included here.