Differential display of rt-pcr products: a tool for identifying novel gene expression during lung development, injury, and tumorigenesis. Sunday, Mary E. Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 75 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02115
APStracts 2:0093L, 1995.
The unique identity of each cell is the result of differential gene expression. A new strategy for differential cDNA screening introduced by Liang and Pardee utilize s anchored oligo-dT primers and random 5' oligonucleotide 10-mers to carry out PCR on reverse-transcribed RNA from different cell populations. The amplified cDNAs are displayed on a standard sequencing gel as 100-500 bands per lane on the resulting autoradiograms and comparisons drawn between the different cell populations. The major advantages of this method over previous differential screening approaches are: its high sensitivity, the small amounts of tissue required, the ability to carry out rapid mRNA analyses using total RNA and to test multiple tissues in parallel. Its limitations are: the need for many primer combinations for adequate representation of mRNAs and the large number of bands displayed. A screening strategy should include multiple positive and negative control samples and Northern blots to identify cDNAs differentially expressed. This approach should facilitate the identification of many novel genes expressed in a variety of physiological and pathological conditions.

Received 8 May 1995; accepted in final form 19 May 1995.
APS Manuscript Number L156-5.
Article publication pending Am. J. Physiol. (Lung Cell. Mol.
Physiology).
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 30 May 1995.