PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), a method which replicates a selected sequence of DNA, has revolutionized the study of genomic material, but mathematical study of the process has been limited to simple deterministic models or descriptions relying on stochastic processes. In this paper we develop a suite of deterministic models for the reactions of quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) ba...

Reverse transcription followed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, or qRT-PCR, is an extremely sensitive, cost-effective method for quantifying gene transcripts from plant cells. The availability of nonspecific double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) binding fluorophors, such as SYBR Green, and 384-well-plate real-time PCR machines that can measure fluorescence at the end of each PCR cycle ...

Reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) represents a sensitive and powerful tool for analyzing RNA. While it has tremendous potential for quantitative applications, a comprehensive knowledge of its technical aspects is required. Successful quantitative RT-PCR involves correction for experimental variations in individual RT and PCR efficiencies. This review addresses the mathematics of RT-PCR, choice...

In recent years, several methylation-specific PCR-based techniques have been developed to identify and characterize hypermethylation of CpG dinucleotides with the primary goal of elucidating a better understanding of the role of DNA methylation in important biological processes, such as chromosome X inactivation and carcinogenesis. The specificity of methylation-specific PCR (MSP) techniques re...

Quantitative PCR can often be improved by conducting the amplification with nested primers. First, fewer nonspecific amplification products, which could otherwise interfere with quantitation, are produced. Often, nonspecific products can be eliminated. In these cases, relatively simple nonspecific detection techniques are suitable for quantitation. In addition, nested primer PCR provides intrin...

In this paper we determine the limits and accuracy of quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR using a modification of the original protocol. The quantification of mRNA with this procedure requires a preliminary estimation of the target molecule (TM) concentration, established from experiments with an internal control molecule (ICM). A definitive quantification is then attained from serial d...

PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction), a method which replicates a selected sequence of DNA, has revolutionized the study of genomic material, but mathematical study of the process has been limited to simple deterministic models or descriptions relying on stochastic processes. In this paper we develop a deterministic model for the reactions of quantitative PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) based on the...

We present a microfluidic device for rapid gene expression profiling in single cells using multiplexed quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). This device integrates all processing steps, including cell isolation and lysis, complementary DNA synthesis, pre-amplification, sample splitting, and measurement in twenty separate qPCR reactions. Each of these steps is performed in parallel on u...

Real-time quantitative PCR allows the sensitive, specific and reproducible quantitation of nucleic acids. Since its introduction, real-time quantitative PCR has revolutionized the field of molecular diagnostics and the technique is being used in a rapidly expanding number of applications. This exciting technology has enabled the shift of molecular diagnostics toward a high-throughput, automated...