Immunohistochemistry of Whole-Mount Mouse Embryos
This protocol was adapted from “Techniques for Visualizing Gene Products, Cells, Tissues, and Organ Systems,” Chapter 16, in Manipulating the Mouse Embryo, 3rd edition, by Andras Nagy, Marina Gertsenstein, Kristina Vintersten, and Richard Behringer. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA, 2003.INTRODUCTION
The technique presented this protocol is ideal for obtaining an overall, three-dimensional picture of the distribution of an antigen in embryos from the prestreak stage to ~10.5 dpc (days post-coitum). The embryos are fixed and permeabilized so that antibodies can penetrate all of the tissues. However, antibodies will not penetrate the embryo completely if it is too large, and so it is better to dissect specific organs (e.g., brain, lungs, and gut) and process them separately.
