title: Microarrays--the challenge of preparing brain tissue samples.
abstract: Microarray experiments allow researchers to collect an amazing amount of gene expression data that have the potential to provide unique information to help interpretation of the biological functions of the central nervous system. These experiments are, however, technically demanding and present unique difficulties when used in the context of neuroscience research, in particular. Success or failure of microarray experiments are highly dependent on reproducible target preparations. This involves a relatively long chain of preparation steps, such as removal of tissue from experimental animals or from post-mortem human brains, storage, selection, and excision of brain regions. This is followed by RNA extraction, reverse transcription, and labeling of target cDNAs or cRNAs. Additionally, it is emphasized that the quality of microarray data largely relies on the proper handling of animals throughout experiments and the time of the day when experiments are stopped. This article tries to provide hints for some basic rules to be observed in preparation of samples for expression profiling studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacological Science and Experimental Medicine, University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Soverchia
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ubaldi
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Leonardi-Essmann
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ciccocioppo
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hardiman
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D018075:RNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D018075:RNA, Complementary; D012333:RNA, Messenger