It’s standard to measure gene expression using RNA from whole animals. There are methods to isolate RNA from specific tissues, but if the gene regulatory event you’re studying takes place in a tissue where a large % of transcripts are made, there’s less of an advantage to using tissue-specific isolation.
So my question is: Is there a way to estimate the % of transcripts in whole-animal lysates originating from each tissue? Has an experiment been done that would provide an estimate? Note that I’m not asking how to predict what tissue a given transcript is from.
I can imagine either cell number or cell size/activity might predominate. For example, there are tons of neurons, but the 20 intestinal cells are huge. The germline of course would make a major contribution.
Any insights?