The use of mRNA differential display for discovery of novel therapeutic targets in cardiovascular disease.

Recent advances in molecular biology techniques have provided powerful tools for discovery of novel genes relevant to both biological and pathological processes. mRNA differential display is an emerging technique for novel gene discovery and it has been successfully applied to many physiological and pathological conditions including normal development, cell differentiation, cancer, cardiovascular disease, inflammation and CNS disorders. In the present work, we briefly illustrate the critical procedure and highlight most recent technical improvements and modifications of this technology. Based upon the successful applications of this technique in cardiovascular research, it may provide a valuable and powerful investigational tool for the identification of novel therapeutic targets in cardiovascular diseases.