Hunting the subset-specific genes of neuroblastoma: Expression profiling and differential screening of the full-length-enriched oligo-capping cDNA libraries

Background. Neuroblastoma (NBL) has a distinct nature in different prognost ic subgroups. Procedure. To understand the molecular mechanism of NBL's gen esis and biology as well as that of the neural crest development, we constr ucted full-length-enriched cDNA libraries by an oligo-capping method from t wo different subsets of primary NBL, one with favorable biology and the oth er with MYCN amplification. Results. Sequencing analysis of these libraries revealed that the expression profile was markedly different between both s ubsets. To identify the genes differentially expressed between the subsets, semi-quantitative RT-PCR analyses are proceeding. Conclusion. So far, 54 t ranscripts have been found to be expressed at high levels in favorable NBLs , and significantly at low levels in unfavorable NBLs. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.