title: Rapid and simple comparison of messenger RNA levels using real-time PCR.
abstract: Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) constitutes a significant improvement over traditional end-point PCR, as it allows the quantification of starting amounts of nucleic acid templates, in real-time. However, quantification requires validation through numerous internal controls and standard curves. We describe in this paper a simple protocol which uses real-time PCR to compare mRNA levels of a gene of interest between different experimental conditions. Comparative real-time PCR can be a relatively low-cost method and does not require sequence-specific fluorescent reporters. Moreover, several genes from a set of experiments can be assessed in a single run. Thus, in addition to providing a comparative profile for the expression of a gene of interest, this method can also provide information regarding the relative abundance of different mRNA species.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche en Rhumatologie et Immunologie du CHUQ (CHUL), and Department of Anatomy-Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Sainte-Foy, Québec, G1V 4G2, Canada.
authors.forename: Andrée-Anne
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Dussault
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pouliot