1Division of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University, Parks Hall, 500 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, OH 43210 USA
2Applied Biosystems, 850 Lincoln Center Drive, Foster City, California, CA 94404 USA
Abstract
Two different methods of presenting quantitative gene expression exist: absolute and relative quantification. Absolute quantification calculates the copy number of the gene usually by relating the PCR signal to a standard curve. Relative gene expression presents the data of the gene of interest relative to some calibrator or internal control gene. A widely used method to present relative gene expression is the comparative CT method also referred to as the 2-ΔΔ𝐶T method. This protocol provides an overview of the comparative CT method for quantitative gene expression studies. Also presented here are various examples to present quantitative gene expression data using this method.