Expression Profiling by Real-Time Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR)

Abstract

Real-time quantitative PCR is a variation of the standard PCR technique that is commonly used to quantify nucleic acid. However, in this technique the amount of amplified specific sequence can be quantified at each stage of the PCR cycle. If investigated sequence is present in large number of copies in particular sample, amplification product is detected already in earlier cycles; if the sequence is rare, amplification is observed in later cycles. Quantification of amplified product is acquired using fluorescent probes or fluorescent DNA-binding dyes. Accumulation of fluorescent signal can be measured by real-time PCR instruments during each of 35–45 cycwwles of the PCR reaction, which simplify the procedure by eliminating the visualization of the amplified products using gel electrophoresis. Real-time-PCR allows quantifying the amount of product already during the PCR reaction as soon as it is detectable. Correctly performed, this method may be used for precise gene expression analysis in life science, medicine, and diagnostics and has become the standard method of choice for the quantification of mRNA. However in the past few years it became obvious that real-time PCR is complex and variability of RNA templates, assay designs, inappropriate data normalization, and data interpretation may cause diverse analytical problems.