mRNA Analyses: A Technical Overview

This section deals with techniques of mRNA analysis, both qualitative and quantitative. The technical details for the techniques described in this section are included in the chapters themselves. In this overview, some of the fundamentals that researchers need to understand in approaching this area are highlighted. This is by no means exhaustive, but the aim is to provide an overview of some basic techniques that can be applied to analysis of gene expression, both in cell lines and in tumor biopsies. Detailed descriptions of the practical background of a wide range of molecular techniques can be found in most molecular biology texts. Further protocols can be found in other volumes from this series, which cover specifically the areas of differential display (1 ), oligonucleotide primed in situ synthesis (PRINS) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in situ (2 ), and basic PCR protocols (3 ,4 ). Further protocols are also available on the World Wide Web (e.g., ref. 5 ).