Use of Oligonucleotide Arrays for Gene Expression Monitoring

Abstract

The ability to monitor RNA levels of genes of interest is at the heart of investigations into the molecular basis of gene function, in studies ranging from basic research to preclinical evaluation to clinical application. In addition, gene expression analysis will play a major role in elucidating functions for the thousands of novel gene sequences revealed through genome sequencing efforts. Classical methods for monitoring RNA levels, such as Northern blotting, RNase protection and RT-PCR, while very useful, are saddled with two major limitations. The first is that these methods are very difficult to accurately quantitate, especially between experiments. The second limitation is that these methods rapidly become unfeasible if one desires to construct a comprehensive picture of cellular activity by monitoring the expression of a large number of genes.