title: Validation of an appropriate reference gene for normalization of reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction data from rectal cancer biopsies.
abstract: Gene expression quantification using reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) requires data normalization using an invariable reference gene. Here we assessed the stability of 15 housekeeping genes in 31 tumor and normal rectal samples to validate a reliable reference gene for rectal cancer studies. Our data show that 18S and 28S RNA are stably expressed in all samples. Moreover, when used for normalization, 18S, but not 28S, greatly reduced unspecific variations of gene expression due to RNA degradation. These results demonstrate that 18S is an appropriate reference gene for normalization of RT-qPCR data from rectal cancer samples.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U896, Val d'Aurelle Cancer Institute, 34298 Montpellier, France; Merck Santé, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ho-Pun-Cheung
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bascoul-Mollevi
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Assenat
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bibeau
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Boissière-Michot
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cellier
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ychou
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lopez-Crapez
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S / Q000235:genetics; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D012007:Rectum / Q000473:pathology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; D012339:RNA, Ribosomal, 28S