Exiqon miRCURY™ LNA microRNA Arrays
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are an important class of short endogenous RNAs that act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression by base-pairing with their target mRNAs. As of December 2007 (miRBase 10.1), more than 5000 microRNAs have been annotated in vertebrates, invertebrates and plants, and many miRNAs that correspond to putative genes have also been identified. Deregulation of miRNAs has been implicated in many human disease states, such as Fragile X, spinal muscular atrophy, and various types of cancer. Profiling all known miRNAs at once through the Exiqon miRCURY™ LNA microRNA Array platform can be an effective tool in research. The Exiqon Arrays contain more than 2000 unique probes covering 54 organisms, as well as an additional 77 probes not included in miRBase.
One distinct advantage of the Exiqon miRCURY™ LNA microRNA Array platform over miRNA arrays from other companies is the ability to profile miRNAs straight from a total RNA preparation. Skipping the previously-required fractionation step allows considerable savings in both time and cost.
Exiqon & Agilent miRNA Arrays
When isolating RNA for miRNA experiments using a commercial kit, do NOT isolate the miRNA fraction. Target labeling reactions are run with TOTAL RNA samples that preserve the miRNA in the total RNA preparation.