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Selection of suitable reference genes for mRNA quantification studies using common marmoset tissues

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Abstract

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is increasingly being used as a non-human primate animal model in biomedical research. To perform accurate quantitative analysis of gene expression by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, reliable reference genes should be selected. In this study, we evaluated the expressions of 11 widely used reference genes: ACTB, ATP5F1, B2M, GAPDH, HPRT1, PGK1, PPIA, RN18S1, RPLP0, TBP and UBC in 12 tissues and five brain areas of healthy common marmosets. NormFinder and geNorm indicated that the most suitable reference genes for cross-sectional studies of the 17 tissues were RN18S1 and RPLP0. Conversely, ACTB and PPIA were the most suitable for analyzing brain samples; however, the expression of PGK1 fluctuated among brain areas. These results indicate that suitable reference genes differ between the tissues examined. This study provides fundamental information for gene expression studies of the common marmoset and highlights the importance of validating reference genes before quantification of target mRNAs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported partly by a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan to Y. S. (no. 23658255).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Veterinary Teaching Hospital, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Towada, Aomori, 034-8628, Japan

    Yoshinori Shimamoto

  2. Department of Veterinary Biochemistry, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Towada, Aomori, 034-8628, Japan

    Yasunaga Yoshikawa

  3. Department of Small Animal Internal Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, Kitasato University, Towada, Aomori, 034-8628, Japan

    Fumio Hoshi

  4. Department of Comparative and Experimental Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Kawasumi 1, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, 467-8601, Japan

    Hiroshi Kitamura

  5. Research Resources Center, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198, Japan

    Kimie Niimi & Eiki Takahashi

  6. Laboratory of Toxicology, Department of Environmental Veterinary Sciences, Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0818, Japan

    Mayumi Ishizuka

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  1. Yoshinori Shimamoto
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Correspondence to Hiroshi Kitamura.

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Shimamoto, Y., Kitamura, H., Niimi, K. et al. Selection of suitable reference genes for mRNA quantification studies using common marmoset tissues. Mol Biol Rep 40, 6747–6755 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-013-2791-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-013-2791-0

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