In Situ PCR Amplification of Intracellular mRNA
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is now commonly used in laboratories involve
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is now commonly used in laboratories involved in research studies and clinical diagnostic work (1 ,2 ). A major advantage of PCR combined with reverse transcription (RT-PCR) is that it can be used to amplify and detect rare mRNA within a specimen. However, conventional RT-PCR cannot be used either to quantitate the frequency of cells expressing a particular mRNA or determine the cellular origin of the amplified signal. Both of these factors may be relevant in the interpretation of gene expression.