Validating Microarray Results Using the QuantiGene Reagent System

To elucidate which genes might be involved in the regulation of the inflammatory response, a microarray was fabricated by spotting 1044 different gene-specific 70-mer oligonucleotides on amine-coated slides. These 70-mer oligonucleotides were selected to represent regulatory genes from four gene classes and include 534 kinases, 260 transcription factors, 192 phosphatases and 58 translation factors. Experiments comparing gene expression of U937 cells treated with PMA/LPS with control U937 cells revealed changes of expression in 20% of the genes. Nine genes were reexamined using the QuantiGene assay and six of the nine genes, which had commercially available TaqMan probes, were reexamined using the TaqMan assay. The results from all three assays were then compared and the data are presented below. The data indicate that the QuantiGene and microarray assay results are highly correlated.