Detection of Gene and Protein Expression in Mouse Embryos and Tissue Sections

: Analysis of gene (mRNA and protein) expression patterns is central to the study of embryonic development. This chapter details methods for detecting mRNA and protein expression in whole-mouse embryos and in tissue sections, including mRNA in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and detection of enzymatic and fluorescent protein reporters. We focus on histological methods; molecular methods of measuring gene expression (for example, RNAseq, PCR) are not included here.