Differential gene expression profiles are dependent upon method of peripheral blood RNA isolation (PHA)

RNA isolation and purification steps greatly influence the results of gene expression profiling. There are two commercially available products for whole blood RNA collection, PAXgene and Tempus blood collection tubes, and each comes with their own RNA purification method. We examined the impact of RNA isolation methods on gene expression profiles. We demonstrated that peripheral blood RNA isoaltion can critically impact differential expression results, particularly in the clinical setting where fold-change differences are typically small and there is inherent variability within biological corhorts Keywords: micorarray quality assurance, phytohemagglutinin (PHA) Whole blood from 7 healthy individuals was collected using Li Heparin tubes, and was incubated for 3 hours at room temperature with or without addition of 25 ug/mL of PHA. After incubation, samples were subsequently transferred to either Tempus or PAXgene tubes.