Whole-Mount In Situ Immunofluorescence of Early Rabbit Embryos

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In this procedure for whole-mount immunostaining of early rabbit embryos, embryonic tissues are immersed in a small volume of buffer containing detergents to permeabilize tissues and the cells, allowing antibodies access to intracellular structures. This method allows the detection of specific cell types and the identification of subcellular characteristics. Correlating the position of the cells of interest with the stage of development allows conclusions to be drawn as to cell differentiation and embryonic development. This method can be applied to rabbit embryos from the early cleavage stages up to neurulating embryos at day 8 of embryonic development.