Transcription profiling

This is one of the most popular study types, also known as ‘expression profiling’. It involves the quantification of gene expression of many genes in cells or tissue samples at the transcription (RNA) level. Quantification can be done by collecting biological samples and extracting RNA (in most cases, total RNA) following a treatment or at fixed time-points in a time-series, thereby creating ‘snap-shots’ of expression patterns.

For common reference genomes with well-annotated transcripts and genes (e.g. the human genome), a researcher can choose to focus on quantifying transcription of all or a subset of transcripts, genes, coding exons, non-coding RNA, and so forth.

Here we have some examples of transcription profiling experiments that can be found in the ArrayExpress collection in the data resource BioStudies:

• Example 1: Transcription profiling by high throughput sequencing of four rice cultivars with variation in growth response to phosphate starvation
• Example 2: Molecular analysis of brain neoplasia