Abstract
In situ reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction amplification with labeled-probe hybridization (in situ RT-PCR/LPH) was used to detect measles virus RNA within formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded brain tissue sections from a patient who died with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). Many more infected neurons and oligodendrocytes were detected by in situ RT-PCR/LPH than by immunohistochemistry or by in situ hybridization alone. In addition, infection of vascular endothelial cells was demonstrated only by in situ RT-PCR/LPH. The observation that many cells contained only a few copies of viral RNA without detectable antigen is consistent with a persistent viral infection of the central nervous system. In situ RT-PCR/LPH, combining the sensitivity of PCR with the tissue localization of in situ hybridization, should prove useful in further studies to detect nucleic acids in situ in the central nervous system.
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Isaacson, S.H., Asher, D.M., Godec, M.S. et al. Widespread, restricted low-level measles virus infection of brain in a case of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis. Acta Neuropathol 91, 135–139 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004010050404
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004010050404