Gapdh as a housekeeping gene: analysis of gapdh mrna expression in a panel of 72 human tissues

Abstract

GAPDH mRNA expression in a panel of 72 human tissues. Physiol Genomics 21: 389–395, 2005. First published March 15, 2005; doi: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00025.2005.—Quantitative gene expres-sion data are often normalized to the expression levels of control or so-called “housekeeping ” genes. An inherent assumption in the use of housekeeping genes is that expression of the genes remains constant in the cells or tissues under investigation. Although exceptions to this assumption are well documented, housekeeping genes are of value in fully characterized systems. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydroge-nase (GAPDH) is one of the most commonly used housekeeping genes used in comparisons of gene expression data. To investigate the value of GAPDH as a housekeeping gene in human tissues, the expression of GAPDH mRNA was measured in a panel of 72 different pathologically normal human tissue types. Measurements were ob-tained from 371,088 multiplexed, quantitative real-time RT-PCR