Articles by Lara Ajamian in JoVE

Detection of Viral RNA by Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH)

JoVE 4002 5/05/2012

Kishanda Vyboh^1,2, Lara Ajamian^1,3, Andrew J. Mouland^1,2,3

¹Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Sir Mortimer B. Davis Jewish General Hospital, ²Department of Microbiology and Immunology, McGill University, ³Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine, McGill University

A fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) method was developed to visually detect viral genomic RNA using fluorescence microscopy. A probe is made with specificity to the viral RNA that can then be identified using a combination of hybridization and immunofluorescence techniques. This technique offers the advantage of identifying the localization of the viral RNA or DNA at steady-state, providing information on the control of intracellular virus trafficking events.