CD36 scavenger receptor is expressed in a subpopulation of olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). These neurons express canonical olfactory signaling machinery; however, not all odorant receptors (ORs) are coexpressed with CD36. In situ hybridization (ISH) enables the detection of nucleic acids in tissues, cells, or isolated chromosomes. The development of nonradioactive and stable labeling probes almost 30 years ago, allowed to routinely perform this technique employing different labeling strategies in one experiment. ISH is widely used in the field of neurobiology of the sense of smell, providing valuable neuroanatomical information regarding the molecular organization of the olfactory epithelium (OE). Here we show a method for studying CD36+-OSNs and provide a detailed protocol for chromogenic ISH, one- or two-color fluorescent ISH, which can be combined with immunofluorescence and are suitable for Cd36 mRNA probing simultaneous to other transcripts and/or proteins labeling.
Keywords: CD36; In situ hybridization; Olfactory epithelium; Olfactory sensory neurons.