New Advances in Super-Sensitive DNA-, RNA- and Antigen Detection: Combination of Labeled Tyramides with Nanogold-Silver Staining (NGSS)

In situ detection of specific antigens and nucleic acid sequences is possible with a variety of immunohistochemical (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) methods. The drawback of conventional methodologies is their relatively low detection sensitivity. Improved detection efficiency is required in preparations containing only minute amounts of detectable antigens or only few copies of specific DNA and/or RNA sequences, which is often the case in routine paraffin cytoand histopathologic material. The use of gold as the label, followed by silver amplification (autometallography) avoids hazardous reagents and also gives an improved resolution compared to „standard” methods. Sensitivity problems may now be overcome by our specific combinations of recent technologies, utilitizing reporter molecule amplification with labeled tyramides (CARD, catalyzed reporter deposition, or tyramide signal amplification), followed by streptavidin bound to a new gold label, Nanogold™ (Nanoprobes, Stony Brook, NY), and silver acetate autometallography.