Differences in Gene Expression Measurements from Identical Probes on Microarrays
Author Information
Author(s): Zhang LanMin, Yoder Sean J, Enkemann Steven A
Primary Institution: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute
Hypothesis
Can identical probes on different high-density oligonucleotide microarrays produce different measurements of gene expression?
Conclusion
Identical probes on different microarray formats can yield different gene expression measurements, suggesting caution in comparing results across platforms.
Supporting Evidence
- Nearly half of the probesets shared by both arrays produced different values.
- About 70% of individual probes in common between the two array types showed array-specific differences.
- More than 10,000 probesets exhibited differential expression values specific to the array type.
Takeaway
Even if two microarrays use the same probes, they can give different results when measuring gene expression, so we need to be careful when comparing them.
Methodology
The study compared gene expression measurements from the U133A and U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays using the Universal Human Reference RNA.
Potential Biases
The study indicates that the array type itself can introduce bias in gene expression measurements.
Limitations
The study primarily focused on two specific microarray types and may not generalize to all microarray technologies.
Statistical Information
P-Value
< 0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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