Microarray analysis of RNA isolated from TAR transfected cells using an Affymetrix human focus array identified 18 human genes that were downregulated and 14 genes that were upregulated. Further validation of four of these genes showed possible links to apoptosis and cell survival including ERCC1 (excision repair cross complementing-group 1), PIASg (protein inhibitor of acti-vated STATg), GIT2 (GPCR interacting protein) and IER3 (intermediate early response 3).