In biological research the analysis of gene expression levels in cells and tissues can be a powerful tool to gain insights into biological processes. For this, quantitative RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) is a popular method that often involve the use of constitutively expressed endogenous reference (or 'housekeeping') gene for normalization of data. Thus, it is essential to use reference genes that have been...

The role of DNA alkylation at the O6 position of guanine in the induction of gene mutations in vivo was studied in the hprt gene of rat T-lymphocytes from spleen exposed in vivo to the monofunctional ethylating agents ethylmethanesulfonate (EMS) and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), or the hydroxyethylating agent N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-N-nitrosourea (HOENU). All chemicals showed an exposure-dependent in...

Huntington's disease is a neurodegenerative illness caused by expansion of CAG repeats at the N-terminal end of the protein huntingtin. We examined longitudinal changes in brain metabolite levels using in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy in five different mouse models. There was a large (>50%) exponential decrease in N-acetyl aspartate (NAA) with time in both striatum and cortex in mice wit...

Different degrees of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) deficiency are associated with hyperuricemia, uric acid nephrolithiasis and severe gout. Up to 25-30% of HPRT deficient patients, indicated as neurological variants or HPRT-related hyperuricemia with neurological dysfunction (HRND), may develop neurological manifestation, from mild to severe; the most serious ones manife...

Preeclampsia and diabetes are complications of pregnancy that contribute to maternal and perinatal mortality worldwide. Results emerging from molecular studies of placentae may elucidate etiologically important genomic alterations. Appropriate application of real time reverse transcription (RT) PCR in comparative gene expression studies requires endogenous housekeeping genes to normalize betwee...

Metabolic cooperation, the correction of the mutant phenotype in cells deficient in hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT-) by intimate contact with normal cells (HPRT+), represents a form of cell communication that is easily studied with radioautography. In the present study it was found that the formation of cell junctions needed for communication does not require protein synthesis nor...