Polymerase Chain Reaction for RNA Analysis

This paper presents two methods using the polymerase chain reaction to allow the efficient comparison of the relative amounts of particular mRNA species present in tissue or cell cultures. The methods have been used on cultures of primary dorsal root ganglion neurons that produce small yields of RNA. The mRNAs examined encode the transcription factors NGFIA and Oct-2, neither of which are present in great abundance in cellular material. Nevertheless, the polymerase chain reaction was able to amplify rare mRNAs to sufficient levels at which differences could be detected between untreated cultured neurons and cultures treated with nerve growth factor.