The use of reverse transcription (RT) PCR for relative quantitation of gene transcripts relies on the reproducibility of the individual RT, PCR and product measurement steps. Semi-competitive RT-PCR (RT-cPCR) uses an internal competitor template in the PCR step to improve quantitation. We have surveyed the reproducibility of RT, PCR, RT-cPCR and measurement, amplifying the glyceraldehyde-3-phos...

Angiogenesis, the growth of new capillaries from pre-existing blood vessels, is a physiological process involved in both normal menstrual cycling and implantation of the embryo. So far, very little is known about the expression of angiopoietins, growth factors involved in angiogenesis, in human endometrium. Both angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) are ligands for the endothelial c...

background: parasitic nematodes cause animal and human diseases of major socio-economic importance worldwide. the suppression of parasite development at particular developmental stages could provide an alternative approach for nema-tode control. in this study, ascaris suum was used as a model system in the study of the differentially expressed genes in the infective l3 stage. methods: the gene ...

PCR-based strategies such as competitive RT-PCR or semiquantitative RTPCR are commonly used for quantitating low-abundance mRNA transcripts (4,7–9). Competitive RT-PCR relies on amplifying the same target with a known amount of a competitor/reference sequence and comparing the relative amounts of the two PCR products. To improve the sensitivity and accuracy of these methods, often expensive and...

The respiratory pattern generator modulates the sympathetic outflow, the strength of which is enhanced by challenges produced by hypoxia. This coupling is due to the respiratory-modulated presympathetic neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), but the underlining electrophysiological mechanisms remain unclear. For a better understanding of the neural substrates responsible for gener...

Blooms of microcystin-producing cyanobacteria are a problem worldwide. Microcystin is a liver hepatotoxin commonly found in bodies of water and is produced mainly by the genus Microcystis. The aim of the present study was to develop and assess a competitive PCR method for the quantification of toxic and non-toxic Microcystis cells using the cpcBA and mcyB genes, which are respectively involved ...

Inflammatory cytokines have an important role in the pathogenesis of myocarditis, but still little is known about the importance of interferon gamma (IFNg) in this disease. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the initial transcriptional activity of IFNg and two subunits of its receptor as measured with the use of QRT-PCR and SYBRGreen chemistry in the group of 63 patien...