A new method for detecting very low levels of gene activity may allow researchers to detect the earliest signs of some diseases, according to a study published in the June 8 issue of journal Science.

The progression of a tissue from a healthy to a diseased state is typically accompanied by changes in the expression of hundreds or even thousands of genes. These changes are reflected in the messenger RNA molecules, also known as gene "transcripts", that carry the gene's instructions.

Researchers have developed a number of methods, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, for monitoring these transcriptional changes.

Scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Harvard Medical School, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Boston, now describe a new technology, called PMAGE, that detects transcripts with greater sensitivity than other methods, even at levels as low as one transcript per three cells.

When they used this method on a mouse model of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, they identified changes in the expression of many scarce transcripts even before other signs of heart damage appeared.

"As a research tool, PMAGE will be very valuable for dissecting complicated developmental processes," said Jon Seidman, professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-author of the study.

Although their study focused on heart disease, the methodology translates to any disease involving a change in cell physiology, including diabetes, kidney disease or cancer.

Source: Xinhua