Identification of suitable reference genes for real-time PCR analysis of statin-treated human umbilical vein endothelial cells

PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51547. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051547. Epub 2012 Dec 10.

Abstract

Proper data normalization in quantitative real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is of critical importance for reliable mRNA expression analysis. Due to a diversity in putative reference genes expression stability in different in vitro models, a validation of an internal control gene should be made for each particular tissue or cell type and every specific experimental design. A few approaches have been proposed for reference gene selection, including pair-wise comparison approach and model-based approach. In this article we have assessed the expression stability of eight putative reference genes: ACTB, B2M, GADD45A, GAPDH, HPRT1, PES1, PSMC4, YWHAZ, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) treated with different statins and with TNF-α. The analysis was performed with three reference gene validation programs: geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper. We have shown that hypoxanthine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 gene (HPRT1) and tyrosine 3-monooxygenase/tryptophan 5-monooxygenase activation protein, zeta polypeptide gene (YWHAZ) are the most stably expressed genes among the analyzed ones. Furthermore, our results show that β-actin gene (ACTB) is downregulated by statins and thus should not be used as a normalizing gene in a discussed experimental setup. A ranking of candidate reference genes stability values is provided and might serve as a valuable guide for future gene expression studies in endothelial cells. This is the first report on reference gene selection for RT-qPCR applications in statin-treated HUVEC model.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biological Assay
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / drug effects*
  • Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / standards*
  • Reference Standards
  • Tissue Donors

Substances

  • Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors

Grants and funding

Funding for this study was from National Centre for Research and Development (N R13 0094 06) and the National Science Centre (N N301 521838). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.