Isolation of Extracellular RNA from Serum/Plasma

Methods Mol Biol. 2018:1740:43-57. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7652-2_5.

Abstract

Extracellular RNAs are initiating increased interest due to their potentials in serving as novel biomarkers, mediators of intercellular communication, and therapeutic applications. As a newly emerging field, one of the main obstacles is the lack of standardized protocols for RNA isolations. Here we describe protocols for commercially available kits that have been modified to yield consistent results for isolation of extracellular RNA from both whole serum/plasma and extracellular vesicle-enriched serum/plasma samples.

Keywords: Cell biology; Extracellular RNA; Extracellular Vesicle; Isolation; Molecular Biology; Nucleic acids; Purification and separation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Extracellular Space / metabolism
  • Extracellular Vesicles / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Molecular Biology / methods
  • Plasma / metabolism
  • RNA / blood*
  • RNA / isolation & purification*
  • Ultracentrifugation / methods

Substances

  • RNA