Ian A. Darby - Böcker

These include pro- cols for immuno (Chapters 4–7), lectin (Chapter 8), and hybridization (Chapter 9) histochemistry,histologicalstaining (Chapters10and11),aswellasspecificmethods for the in situ identification of hypoxia (Chapter 12) and apoptosis (Chapter 13).

The technique of in situ hybridization, in its various forms, has been used routinely in many laboratories for a number of years. In the post-genome era, gene arrays and proteomics have allowed us to identify hitherto unknown unrecognized pathways and mechanisms. However, rather than diminish the importance of in situ hybridization, the now widespread use of screening te- nologies has increased the need to temporally and spatially localize the dist- bution of mRNA expression. Our intention, in In Situ Hybridization Protocols is to provide ample inf- mation for novices planning to set up the in situ hybridization technique and use it in their laboratory for the first time, as well as giving updates of recent developments for those laboratories where in situ hybridization techniques are already in use. Despite its widespread significance, in situ hybridization has retained a re- tation as one of the more difficult and capricious molecular biological te- niques. This may in part be because of the hybrid nature of the technique, which often requires a mixture of molecular biological and histological skills. The two techniques are usually taught and acquired in different streams of biolo- cal science. The step-by-step and detailed protocols provided in In Situ Hybridization Protocols by researchers active in the field should make it p- sible for both the molecular biologist with little experience of histology and the histologist with little experience of molecular biology to use the technique s- cessfully in their laboratories.

Somuchofwhatweknowaboutthepathogenesisofhumandiseasehascomefromthe systematic and careful study of histological material. Indeed, every internal medicine discipline has its landmark papers describing the clinico-pathological correlations. However, increasingly, it is molecular and cellular biology that provides the necessary mechanistic insights. For many years, it was thought that the two skill sets were mutually exclusive, but we hope that this book shows that this is not necessarily so. Implicitinthescienceofhistologyisthepreservationandarchivingoftissue.PartIof the book concentrates on the preparation of tissue, providing an overview of fixation, embedding, and processing (Chapter 1), and in Chapters 2 and 3, the required techniques for the retrieval of RNA from histological sections. Both routine and specialist histological staining techniques are provided in Part II. These include pro- cols for immuno (Chapters 4–7), lectin (Chapter 8), and hybridization (Chapter 9) histochemistry,histologicalstaining (Chapters10and11),aswellasspecificmethods for the in situ identification of hypoxia (Chapter 12) and apoptosis (Chapter 13). Finally, Part III details advances in imaging (Chapters 14–16) and image analysis (Chapter 17). It is hoped that this volume will provide molecular biologists with the basic his- chemical techniques and histologists with the molecular techniques to realise the potential of their resource. We are indebted to the authors for their generosity in sharing these protocols.