Optimizing RNA extraction yield from whole blood for microarray gene expression analysis

Objectives: Microarray analysis of gene expression profiles of blood leukocytes has many potential clinical and research applications. Design and methods: We used the PAXgene Blood RNA System to prepare RNA from the whole blood of normal volunteers using two incubation times followed by gene expression profiling using the Affymetrix HU133A GeneChip. Conclusions: Longer incubation gave a significantly higher RNA yield and samples that were satisfactory for microarray analysis, with excellent pairwise correlations between replicates.