Combining Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization with Immunofluorescence and Lectin Staining in Planarians

Abstract

The capability to simultaneously apply different molecular tools to visualize a wide variety of changes in genetic expression and tissue composition in Schmidtea mediterranea has always been of great interest. The most commonly used techniques are fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunofluorescence (IF) detection. Here, we describe a novel way to perform both protocols together adding the possibility to combine them with fluorescent-conjugated lectin staining to further broaden the detection of tissues. We also present a novel lectin fixation protocol to enhance the signal, which could be useful when single-cell resolution is required.

Keywords: Antibodies; Fluorescent ISH; Fluorescent-conjugated; Immunofluorescence; Lectin; Planarian.