Are gene expression microarray analyses reliable? A review of studies of retinoic acid responsive genes.
Microarray analyses of gene expression are widely used, but reports of the same analyses by different groups give widely divergent results, and raise questions regarding reproducibility and reliability. We take as an example recent published reports on microarray experiments that were designed to identify retinoic acid responsive genes. These reports show substantial differences in their results. In this article, we review the methodology, results, and potential causes of differences in these applications of microarrays. Finally, we suggest practices to improve the reliability and reproducibility of microarray experiments.
van der Spek
Peter J
PJ
Janssen Pharmaceutica, Beerse, Belgium.
Kremer
Andreas
A
Murry
Lynn
L
Walker
Michael G
MG
D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D023281:Genomics / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000737:chemistry
D014212:Tretinoin