NOVÁK, J.P., KIM, S.Y., XU, J., MODLICH, O., VOLSKY, D.J., HONYS, David, SLONCZEWSKI, J.L., BELL, D.A., BLATTNER, F.R., BLUMWALD, E., BOERMA, M., COSIO, M., GATALICA, Z., HAJDUCH, M., HIDALGO, J., MCINNES, R.R., MILLER III, M.C., PENKOWA, M., ROLPH, M.S., SOTTOSANTO, J., ST-ARNAUD, R., SZEGO, M.J., TWELL, D., WANG, Ch. Generalization of DNA microarray dispersion properties: microarray equivalent of t-distribution. Biology Direct. 2006, 1(27), 1-24. ISSN 1745-6150. E-ISSN 1745-6150.

DNA microarrays are a powerful technology that can provide a wealth of gene expression data for disease studies, drug development, and a wide scope of other investigations. Because of the large volume and inherent variability of DNA microarray data, many new statistical methods have been developed for evaluating the significance of the observed differences in gene expression. However, until now little attention has been given to the characterization of dispersion of DNA microarray data. In this study we ascertained that the non-systematic variations possess Gaussian distribution, determined the probability intervals and demonstrated that the K-alpha coefficients defining these intervals are invariant; these coefficients offer a convenient universal measure of dispersion of data. The fact that the K-alpha distributions are so close to t-distribution and independent of conditions and type of arrays suggests that the quantitative data provided by Affymetrix technology give "true" representation of physical processes, involved in measurement of RNA abundance.