The serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) technique was used to generate a database of the most abundant transcripts of the MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma cell line IMR-5. A total of 8568 tags were sequenced and shown to represent 4034 unique tags, each of which corresponds to an individual transcript. Expression levels of genes are reflected by the frequency of occurrence of the respective tags. To validate fidelity of SAGE data, relative abundances of seven transcripts were evaluated by semiquantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Transcripts that were detected nine times or more (>0.1% of the total tag population) accounted for 36% of the total messenger RNA mass but only 3% of the total number of individual transcripts. A strong preponderance of genes involved in protein synthesis, in particular those encoding for ribosomal proteins, were observed among these high-abundance transcripts. Tags corresponding to the amplified gene DDX1 were conspicuously overrepresented in comparison to the other amplified genes MYCN, neuroblastoma amplified gene and MEIS1, which suggests an additional mechanism apart from genomic amplification contributing to the strong upregulation of this gene. This study provides a comprehensive gene expression profile of neuroblastoma cell line IMR-5 and may be used as a reference database for identification of candidate genes that are involved in etiology and pathogenesis of neuroblastoma.