MicroRNA Expression Profi ling of Rat Blood and Brain Tissues: TaqMan Real-Time PCR MicroRNA Assays - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 161

Fig. 4. Trimming the card to fi t into the PCR instrument.

Fig. 5. Loading the card into the 7900HT real-time PCR system.

to examine the signifi cance of the miRNAs regulated in the
experimental condition compared to a control group.

3.8. Analysis of
Biological Function
and Signifi cance

1. Predicted target genes (mRNAs) of the miRNAs are deter-
mined using publicly available software suites, such as MAMI
( http://mami.med.harvard.edu ) ( 3, 9 ). This software makes
an overall prediction using several different databases and
algorithms, including TargetScanS, miRanda, microT, miRtar-
get, and picTar.
2. The predicted mRNA target genes in both brain and blood are
then subjected to biological function analyses using IPA ( 3, 9 ).