Comparing Gene Expression Assays in Brain Tissue Samples
Author Information
Author(s): Chow Maggie L, Li Hai-Ri, Winn Mary E, April Craig, Barnes Cynthia C, Wynshaw-Boris Anthony, Fan Jian-Bing, Fu Xiang-Dong, Courchesne Eric, Schork Nicholas J
Primary Institution: University of California San Diego
Hypothesis
The study aims to compare the reliability of DASL and IVT gene expression profiling assays on postmortem brain tissue samples.
Conclusion
The DASL-based gene expression-profiling platform is more reliable than the IVT-based method for analyzing RNA from frozen brain tissue.
Supporting Evidence
- The DASL-based platform produced more reliable results than the IVT-based platform.
- Correlation coefficients indicated that DASL performed better with degraded RNA samples.
- Formalin-fixed samples showed poor data quality for both assays.
Takeaway
This study found that one method of testing brain tissue works better than another, especially when the tissue is not in perfect condition.
Methodology
The study compared DASL and IVT gene expression profiling assays on artificially degraded reference RNA and postmortem brain tissue samples.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to the small sample size and the variability in RNA quality.
Limitations
The sample sizes for formalin-fixed tissue were too small to draw conclusive results.
Participant Demographics
The study included postmortem brain samples from individuals diagnosed with autism and control cases, with ages ranging from 2 to 56 years.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.000075
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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