Normalizing gene expression levels in mouse fetal germ cells

Abstract

Real-time PCR has become a popular method to analyze transcription of genes that are developmentally regulated during organogenesis of the testes and ovaries. However, the heterogenous cell populations and commitment to strikingly different developmental pathways of the germ and somatic cells in these organs complicate analysis of this process. The selection of suitable reference genes for quantifying gene expression in this system is essential, but to date it has not been sufficiently addressed. To rectify this problem, we have used fluorescence-activated cell sorting to purify germ cells from mouse fetal testes and ovaries and examined 16 common housekeeping genes for their suitability as ..