Publikationsdatenbank

miR-Q: a novel quantitative RT-PCR approach for the expression profiling of small RNA molecules such as miRNAs in a complex sample (2008)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Sharbati-Tehrani, Soroush

Kutz-Lohroff, Barbara

Bergbauer, Ramona

Scholven, Jutta

Einspanier, Ralf

Quelle

BMC molecular biology

Bandzählung: 9

Seiten: 34

ISSN: 1471-2199

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

DOI: 10.1186/1471-2199-9-34

Pubmed: 18400113

Kontakt

Institut für Veterinär-Biochemie

Oertzenweg 19 b
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 62225
biochemie@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small endogenous non-coding interfering RNA molecules regarded as major regulators in eukaryotic gene expression. Different methods are employed for miRNA expression profiling. For a better understanding of their role in essential biological processes, convenient methods for differential miRNA expression analysis are required.

Here, we present the miR-Q assay as a highly sensitive quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) for expression analysis of small RNAs such as miRNA molecules. It shows a high dynamic range of 6 to 8 orders of magnitude comprising a sensitivity of up to 0.2 fM miRNA, which corresponds to single copies per cell. There is nearly no cross reaction among closely-related miRNA family members, which points to the high specificity of the assays. Using this approach, we quantified the expression of let-7b in different human cell lines as well as miR-145 and miR-21 expression in porcine intestinal samples.

miR-Q is a cost-effective and highly specific approach, which neither requires the use of fluorochromic probes, nor Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA)-modified oligonucleotides. Moreover, it provides a remarkable increase in specificity and simplified detection of small RNAs.