Table 2 Gene expression stability of candidate human housekeeping genes indicates β-actin is suitable for SM-target within-animal paired sampling and DGE analysis in mice.

From: Stereomicroscopic 3D-pattern profiling of murine and human intestinal inflammation reveals unique structural phenotypes

CT values, mean±s.d.

β-actin

SDHA

18S

By organ

 Caecum

16.267±1.387

20.273±1.476

11.482±3.184

 Ileum

16.265±1.686

20.792±1.735

12.178±3.457

Family pool s.d.

1.514

1.606

3.317

Mean sum sq.

2.29

2.58

11.0

ANOVA F

F1,245=<0.01

F1,233=6.22

F1,246=2.7

P value

0.992NS

0.013NS

0.101NS

By treatment

 PBS control

16.421±1.682*

20.717±1.834*

12.107±3.629*

 Dexamethasone

16.338±1.455*

20.690±1.322*

12.581±3.073*

 3% DSS

15.619±0.720†

19.731±0.947†

9.934±1.373†

Family pool s.d.

1.491

1.589

3.189

Mean sum sq.

2.22

2.53

10.2

ANOVA F

F2,245=5.53

F2,233=7.46

F2,246=10.69

P value

0.004**

0.001**

<0.001***

By mouse strain

 C57BL/6

15.413±0.778*

19.395±0.767*

8.931±0.672*

 SAMP1/YitFc

16.200±1.478†

20.596±1.545†

11.771±2.742†

 AKR/J

17.356±1.688‡

21.428±2.118‡

14.859±4.591‡

Family pool s.d.

1.423

1.535

2.887

Mean sum sq.

2.03

2.36

8.33

ANOVA F

F2,245=17.89

F2,233=16.35

F2,245=39.95

P value

0.004**

<0.001***

<0.0001**

  1. NS, not significant.
  2. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) parameters. β-Actin and SDHA are comparably the most stable of the three genes tested, while 18S is the most variable/uncertain (notice its extreme family pool s.d. and mean sum squares). See also Supplementary Fig. 11. Analysis of arithmetic values combining β-actin and SDHA (CT average, or ratio) indicates that SDHA could be better used as a secondary housekeeping gene to independently verify DGE profile findings derived from β-actin (gene network reproducibility), instead of combining them into a single averaged value as reference. Bold font highlights variability parameters; note 18S variation doubles that of B-actin and SDHA.
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