[In situ hybridization of messenger RNA in the central nervous system]

Beside the standard approach for the study of peptide hormone gene expression that quantitate the amount of specific mRNA in the total RNA extracted from an homogenate of tissue by filter or solution hybridization, a technique called in situ hybridization has been developed for the location of specific mRNA populations in tissue section. The in situ technique can be useful in answering anatomical question but its greatest interest in neuroendocrinology lies in its ability to resolve hybrids at the levels of cells and therefore in its potential as a semiquantitative assay for mRNA levels in individual neurons.