Diagnosis with oligonucleotides

Abstract

Protein-based immunohistochemical techniques like immunoperoxidase methods are now routinely used in many diagnostic dermatopathology laboratories. This is possible because of the availability of antibodies that react with specific, diagnostically useful proteins and because there are simple but sensitive detection systems. Despite their promise of equal or greater specificity, techniques based on the detection of specific nucleic acids have not been as useful as immunoperoxidase techniques because of a relative lack of such reagents and detection systems. This chapter describes how oligonucleotides, short single-stranded pieces of DNA or RNA, may be used to circumvent some of the problems associated with current in situ hybridization techniques and how they may eventually allow the use of nucleic acid-based detection systems for diagnosis in dermatopathology.