Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Visualizing The Needle In The Haystack: In Situ Hybridization With Fluorescent Dendrimers, Jacquelyn Gerhart, M. Baytion, J. Perlman, C. Neely, B. Hearon, T. Nilsen, R. Getts, J. Kadushin, Mindy George-Weinstein

PCOM Scholarly Papers

In situ hybridization with 3DNA dendrimers is a novel tool for detecting low levels of mRNA in tissue sections and whole embryos. Fluorescently labeled dendrimers were used to identify cells that express mRNA for the skeletal muscle transcription factor MyoD in the early chick embryo. A small population of MyoD mRNA positive cells was found in the epiblast prior to the initiation of gastrulation, two days earlier than previously detected using enzymatic or radiolabeled probes for mRNA. When isolated from the epiblast and placed in culture, the MyoD mRNA positive cells were able to differentiate into skeletal muscle cells. These …