Gene expression in early development of Xenopus laevis

• Main Author: Šindelka, Radek
• Other Authors: Jonák, Jiří
• Format: Doctoral Thesis
• Language: Czech
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-295201

Everyhigherorganismconsistsof severalhundredsof differentcell types.The cell differentiationis a processwhich requireshighlypreciseregulationof mRNA productionand subsequentlyproteinsynthesis.Duringdevelopmentof an organism eachcellgainsa uniquepaletteof mRNAand proteinmolecules,whichreflectsthe cell'sfate.To understandthe basicfunction and regulationof genesthat are importantduringdevelopment,mRNA expressionprofilingis an irreplaceabletool. However, most techniquesto determine the mRNA content, such as Northern blot, microarraysand in situ hybridizationhave some limitationsin their specificity,dynamicrangeand/or sensitivity.Quantitativereal-timePCR analysis(qPCR)for nucleicacids quantificationwas introduced in the last decade and it has overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.qPCR has rapidly becomethe goldenstandardin basicresearchas well as in manyaspectsof appliedresearchsuchas moleculardiagnostic,food pathogendetectionand geneticallymodifiedorganism(GMO)analysis. We decidedto applyqPCRin studieswhere it helpsus to understandbasicbiologicalprocessesthattake placein the developingorganism.One of the focusareasof the Laboratoryof gene expressionat IMG AS CR,where Idid my PhDthesis,was the role of Src tyrosine kinasesin the early developmentof vertebratesstudied on the African clawed frog Xenopus...