In situ hybridization in HIV research.

In situ hybridization (ISH) for HIV is an arduous, demanding means of detecting viral genetic material in cells and tissues. Good ISH requires broad technical skills and devotion to controls for every step of the process as well as a critical eye when interpreting results. ISH may be used to detect HIV in three ways: by hybridizing to viral RNA, by hybridizing to proviral mRNA being produced for virion packaging, and by hybridizing to proviral DNA in the cytoplasm or integrated in the nucleus of an infected cell. Here we discuss the technical considerations involved and the problems encountered in using ISH to study the pathobiology of HIV infection.