A Population Proportion approach for ranking differentially expressed genes

Background: DNA microarrays are used to investigate differences in gene expression between two or more classes of samples. Most currently used approaches compare mean expression levels between classes and are not geared to find genes whose expression is significantly different in only a subset of samples in a class. However, biological variability can lead to situations where key genes are differentially expressed in only a subset of samples. To facilitate the identification of such genes, a new method is reported. Methods: The key difference between the Population Proportion Ranking Method (PPRM) presented here and almost all other methods currently used is in the quantification of variability. PPRM quantifies variability in terms of inter-sample ratios and can be used to calculate the relative merit of differentially expressed genes with a specified difference in expression level between at least some samples in the two classes, which at the same time have lower than a specified var...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: BMCBI
• Authors: Mugdha Gadgil
• Keywords: BMCBI 2008, DNA Microarrays, Expression Level, Proportion Ranking Method