Transcriptional profiling of peripheral blood - comparison of results obtained from samples stored in two RNA stabilizing reagents

RNA stabilizing reagents have been developed to ensure that transcription profiles of whole blood samples reflect the physiological state at the time of the blood drawn. Ability to preserve and maintain the in vivo gene expression status ex vivo is essential for gene expression profiling and biomarker discovery from clinical sample material. We compared transcriptional profiles obtained from samples collected using two established peripheral blood RNA collection systems, TEMPUS™ and PAXgene™. We demonstrated that TEMPUS™ and PAXgene™ systems can be used in combination with RiboAmp® mRNA amplification without a need for a separate globin reduction step. However, use of samples collected through different blood collection methods in the same experiment should be avoided. Two PAXgene and two TEMPUS blood RNA tubes were collected from three healthy volunteers (2 female and 1 male), in addition, pooled total RNA from PBMC of 41 normal blood donors was analyzed.