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Elsevier, Experimental Cell Research, 3(319), p. 46-55

DOI: 10.1016/j.yexcr.2012.11.009

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Immunofluorescence protects RNA signals in simultaneous RNA-DNA FISH

Journal article published in 2012 by Lan-Tian Lai, Pin Jie Lee, Li-Feng Zhang ORCID
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Cell research often requires combinational detection of RNA and DNA by fluorescence in situ hybridization (RNA-DNA FISH). However, it is difficult to preserve the fragile RNA signals through the harsh conditions used to denature the DNA template in DNA FISH. The current protocols of RNA-DNA FISH still cannot work robustly in all experiments. RNA-DNA FISH remains as a technically challenging and tedious experiment. By incorporating protein components into the signal detection steps of RNA FISH, which is then followed by a post-fixation step, we established an improved protocol of RNA-DNA FISH. The established method worked satisfyingly and robustly in our studies on Xist (inactivated X chromosome specific transcript) RNA and Terra (telomeric repeat-containing RNA). Our results provided the direct evidence to show that, not all the telomeres are associated with Terra, and a significant fraction of Terra foci do not overlap with telomere DNA in interphase cell nuclei. The improved method of simultaneous RNA-DNA FISH is reliable and time-efficient. It can be used in a variety of biological studies.