Quantitative microRNA expression analysis in tissues and body fluids

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules that play a key role in gene expression regulation. They have critical functions in various biological processes and their involvement in disease biology is well documented. Several measurement platforms have been developed to determine relative miRNA abundance in biological samples using different technologies such as small RNA sequencing, reverse transcription-quatitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and hybridization. The accurate and reliable detection of microRNAs in challenging samples such as formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissue samples and body fluids such as serum, plasma, urine,… is of interest for the identification of new biomarkers for cancer and other diseases.

During this webinar, Dr. Ariane De Ganck, Product Manager, Transcriptome Services at Biogazelle, discussed:

• The potential of RNA and especially non-coding RNAs as circulating biomarkers
• Introduction to the microRNA quality control (miRQC) study, a study with an unprecedented scale, set up to evaluate quantitative miRNA expression platforms, published in Nature methods and led by Biogazelle’s senior data-analyst expert dr. Pieter Mestdagh
• The combined approach of whole genome microRNA profiling using small RNA sequencing and targeted qPCR based microRNA validation.
• The workflow, from sample preparation to microRNA measurement, data processing and interpretation including insides in Cobra, our proprietary pipeline for RNA-seq data processing and quality control
• Case studies for microRNA expression analysis in challenging samples, including FFPE tissue and body fluids, applied to identify biomarkers in an inflammatory disease study
• How the QIAGEN miScript PCR system can be used for targeted microRNA measurement.