Ultrastructural localization of epidermal growth factor (EGF)-receptor transcripts in the cell nucleus using pre-embedding in situ hybridization in combination with ultra-small gold probes and silver enhancement.

A high-resolution in situ hybridization method is described for localizing epidermal growth factor (EGF)-receptor transcripts in nuclei of A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells. The method is based upon the use of ultra-small gold particles in combination with silver enhancement. The RNA of the EGF-receptor was detected mainly around the nucleoli. After removal of the DNA using nucleases and high salt extraction, the RNA of the EGF-receptor appears to be associated with the nuclear matrix. The RNA of the EGF-receptor was observed in close contact with the SC-35 splicing protein, but no exact colocalization was observed. These results demonstrate that high resolution pre-embedding in situ hybridization in combination with immunocytochemistry, both using ultra-small gold as a detection method, provides a powerful tool to unravel the organization of nuclear processes.