Reliable reference miRNAs for quantitative gene expression analysis of stress responses in Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) has become the "gold standard" for measuring expression levels of individual miRNAs. However, little is known about the validity of reference miRNAs, the improper use of which can result in misleading interpretation of data.

Results

Here we undertook a systematic approach to identify highly stable miRNAs in different stress conditions such as low oxygen (hypoxia), UV-stress and high temperature (heat-stress) in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We conducted genome-wide RNA-seq for small RNAs and selected abundant miRNAs with minimal variation of expression between the different conditions. We further validated the stable expression of a selection of those constitutively expressed candidates in the different stress conditions by

SUBMITTER: Kagias K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3997968 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature