Nonspecific binding of nucleic acid probes to Paneth cells in the gastrointestinal tract with in situ hybridization.

Nonspecific binding of a number of unrelated nucleic acid probes to cells in the crypts of Lieberkuhn was observed in the small intestine of mice with the in situ hybridization technique. Hybridization signal was localized to cells which, by virtue of their histological position, represented Paneth cells. This signal could not be removed by RNAse, DNAse, or proteinase K treatment, and was not removed after high-stringency washing conditions. This report indicates that caution must be exercised in the interpretation of in situ hybridization data when looking for nucleic acid sequences in the gastrointestinal tract.