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Target Discovery and Validation Reviews and Protocols

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116 Røsok <strong>and</strong> Sioud<br />

1.1. Selection Techniques<br />

1.1.1. Differential Screening<br />

In differential hybridization, a cDNA library is constructed from one cell<br />

population, <strong>and</strong> then duplicate membranes of colony/plaque lifts are hybridized<br />

separately with probes made from the same cell population <strong>and</strong> from a cell population<br />

to which it is supposed to be compared. Colonies/plaques hybridizing<br />

only to the probe from the library-derived population have expression restricted<br />

to this cell type. Because of high-complexity cDNA probes, the method works<br />

well only for the small subclass of genes that are expressed in abundance in the<br />

cell type from which the library is made (4). Other disadvantages of this method<br />

are the requirement for large quantities of RNA <strong>and</strong> the ability to identify interesting<br />

clones from only one population.<br />

1.1.2. Subtractive Hybridization (Subtractive Cloning)<br />

The basic idea of subtraction cloning is to remove nucleic acids representing<br />

common genes expressed in two different sources of biological material, leaving<br />

behind for analysis nucleic acids representing genes that are uniquely or<br />

abundantly expressed in the biological material of interest.<br />

Nucleic acids (first str<strong>and</strong> cDNA or mRNA) from the material of interest (the<br />

tester or tester population) are hybridized to complementary nucleic acids<br />

(mRNA or first str<strong>and</strong> cDNA) from the biological material to which it is supposed<br />

to be compared (the driver population). The driver population is present<br />

in excess to optimize the probability <strong>and</strong> speed of the reannealing process of<br />

complementary tester <strong>and</strong> driver duplexes. Only sequences common to the two<br />

populations can form hybrids. After the hybridization, the duplexes <strong>and</strong> singlestr<strong>and</strong>ed<br />

driver sequences are removed, <strong>and</strong> the remaining nucleic acid population<br />

is enriched for tester-specific nucleic acids. The process usually must be<br />

performed repeatedly to remove all common sequences. Remaining nucleic<br />

acid can either be used to prepare a cDNA library enriched for tester-specific<br />

clones or to generate an absorbed probe that can be used to screen a cDNA<br />

library for tester-specific clones. cDNA clones corresponding to rare mRNAs<br />

(0.005–0.01% of total mRNA) may thereby be detected (4). In the original subtraction<br />

techniques, first str<strong>and</strong> cDNA was used as the tester <strong>and</strong> mRNA as the<br />

driver (5). RNA generally makes a poor tester because it is easily degraded.<br />

Conversely, it makes a good driver because driver molecules not removed during<br />

the hybrid removal step can easily be degraded enzymatically or by using<br />

alkali treatment. A problem with mRNA as driver, is that large amounts of starting<br />

material are needed, <strong>and</strong> only two rounds of subtraction can be performed<br />

before the amounts of remaining tester becomes too small. Thus, the usefulness<br />

of absorbed probes may be limited by the amount of material that is available.

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