ScienCell's GeneQuery™ GQH-SMD qPCR Array is designed to profile the gene expression of 88 key genes involved in smooth muscle contraction and diseases that affect smooth muscle function.  Vertebrates have three main types of muscle tissue: cardiac, skeletal, and smooth or non-striated.  Smooth muscle fundamentally differs from the other two types in both regulation and function.  Smooth muscle contraction is involuntary and it is found lining blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, the bladder, and the reproductive, GI, and respiratory tracts.  Smooth muscle malfunctions can lead to a host of disorders such as achalasia (when smooth muscles fail to relax) and Hirschsprung’s (muscle failure in the GI tract due to lack of nerves).  Brief examples of how included genes may be grouped according to relevance are shown below:

• Smooth muscle contraction: SORBS3, TPM1, MYL9, ITGA1, CALM1, ACTA2
• Smooth muscle differentiation: CAMK2D, KCNH8, KLF4, MEF2A, SRF
• Achalasia: RET, NOS1, KIT, FLVCR1, MC2R
• Hirschsprung’s disease: ECE1, EDN3, EDNRB, GDNF, SOX10

GeneQuery™ qPCR array kits are qPCR ready in a 96-well plate format, with each well containing one primer set that recognizes and efficiently amplifies a specific target gene's cDNA. The carefully designed primers ensure that: (i) the optimal annealing temperature in qPCR analysis is 65°C (with 2 mM Mg²⁺and no DMSO); (ii) the primer set recognizes all known transcript variants of the target gene, unless otherwise noted; and (iii) only one gene is amplified. Each primer set has been validated by qPCR with melt curve analysis and gel electrophoresis.