Sixteen blood samples were obtained from four animals with different health conditions and stored in RNA later™ solution. Six immunologically relevant genes (IL-2Rα, -4, -10, -12, TNFα, and IFNγ) were selected for analysis, and two validated housekeeping genes (PGK1 and RPL4) with stable expression were used as reference genes. In this study, we developed a probe-based quantitative gene expression assay for immunological assessment of captive beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) that is one of the most common cetacean species on display in aquariums worldwide. It is particularly suitable for detecting the expression of proteins against which monoclonal antibodies are not available. Quantitation of mRNA using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is an established immunological technique. A probe-based qRT-PCR method to profile immunological gene expression in blood of captive beluga whales ( Delphinapterus leucas) PeerJ 5: e3840 Ĭytokines are fundamental for a functioning immune system, and thus potentially serve as important indicators of animal health. Cite this article Tsai M, Chen I, Wang J, Chou S, Li T, Leu M, Ho H, Yang WC. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. Licence This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. Ltd., Pingtung, Taiwan DOI 10.7717/peerj.3840 Published Accepted Received Academic Editor María Ángeles Esteban Subject Areas Marine Biology, Molecular Biology, Veterinary Medicine, Immunology Keywords Gene expression, qRT-PCR, Immunology, Beluga Copyright © 2017 Tsai et al. 3 Department of Biology, Hi-Scene World Enterprise Co.