Effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms on Affymetrix match-mismatch probe pairs.

Microarrays provide a means of studying expression level of tens of thousands of genes by providing one or more oligonucleotide probe(s) for each transcript studied. Affymetrix(R) GeneChiptrade mark platforms historically pair each 25-base perfect match (PM) probe with a mismatch probe (MM) differing by a complementary base located in the 13(th) position to quantify and deflate effects of cross-hybridization. Analytical routines for analyzing these arrays take into account difference in expression levels of MM and PM probes to determine which ones are useful for further study.