Study on differentially expressed genes in papillary thyroid carcinoma by cDNA microarray

Objective To screen the differentially expressed genes between papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and normal thyroid tissues using cDNA microarray. Methods mRNA from both PTC and normal thyroid tissues were reversely transcribed to cDNAs with the incorporation of fluorescent dUTP (Cy-5 or Cy-3) to prepare the hybridization probes. The mixed probes were hybridized to the cDNA microarray, which was scanned for the fluorescent signals and showed difference between two tissues. Two among the differentially expressed genes were verified by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Results In PTC 48 genes were upregulated while 17 were downregulated. The results of RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were consistent with that of the gene chips. Conclusion cDNA microarray technique is effective in screening the differentially expressed genes between 2 different kinds of tissue. The obtained genes are mainly related with extracellular matrix, cytokine, signal transduction and so on.