Purification of miRNA and total RNA from FFPE tissue

QIAGEN has expanded its comprehensive range of technologies for miRNA research with the launch of the miRNeasy FFPE Kit. The kit enables purification of total RNA that includes miRNA and other small RNA from approximately 18 nucleotides upwards, from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue sections including laser capture microscopy samples. The innovative procedure reverses formalin crosslinking, which would otherwise block downstream applications.

Fixing tissues with formalin leads to RNA–RNA and RNA–protein crosslinking, which impairs RNA performance in downstream applications. The miRNeasy FFPE Kit provides special lysis and incubation conditions to reverse formalin crosslinking of RNA. In addition, the specially developed lysis buffer efficiently releases RNA from tissue sections while avoiding further RNA degradation. The kit also uses gDNA Eliminator spin columns for removal of genomic DNA contamination. Optimized binding conditions allow purification of all usable RNA from approximately 18 nucleotides upwards. The purified RNA delivers maximal performance in a range of applications, including real-time PCR.

The miRNeasy FFPE Kit complements QIAGEN’s existing range of miRNeasy Kits, which enable miRNA purification from a wide variety of animal cells and tissues. The miRNA research portfolio also includes the miScript System for miRNA quantification by real-time PCR.