Andrade-Navarro, Miguel AKanji, FeminaPalii, Carmen GBrand, MarjorieAtkins, HaroldPerez-Iratxeta, Carol2014-10-012014-10-0120132013BMC Biotechnology 2013, 13:801472-6750http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6750/13/80http://hdl.handle.net/10393/31652Gene transcripts specifically expressed in a particular cell type (cell-type specific gene markers) are useful for its detection and isolation from a tissue or other cell mixtures. However, finding informative marker genes can be problematic when working with a poorly characterized cell type, as markers can only be unequivocally determined once the cell type has been isolated. We propose a method that could identify marker genes of an uncharacterized cell type within a mixed cell population, provided that the proportion of the cell type of interest in the mixture can be estimated by some indirect method, such as a functional assay.enCell markersHigh-throughput gene expressionCell isolationProof-of conceptArticle10.1186/1472-6750-13-80