Novel small RNA spike-in oligonucleotides enable absolute normalization of small RNA-Seq data

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNA molecules that have an important regulatory role in multiple physiological and pathological processes. Their disease-specific profiles and presence in biofluids are properties that enable miRNAs to be employed as non-invasive biomarkers. In the past decades, several methods have been developed for miRNA analysis, including small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq). Small RNA-seq enables genome-wide profiling and analysis of known, as well as novel, miRNA variants. Moreover, its high sensitivity allows for profiling of low input samples such as liquid biopsies, which have now found applications in diagnostics and prognostics. Still, due to technical bias and the limited ability to capture the true miRNA representation, its potential remains unfulfilled. The introduction of many new small RNA-seq approaches that tried to minimize this bias, has led to the existence of the many small RNA-seq protocols seen today. Here, we review all current approaches to cDNA library construction used during the small RNA-seq workflow, with particular focus on their implementation in commercially available protocols. We provide an overview of each protocol and discuss their applicability. We also review recent benchmarking studies comparing each protocol’s performance and summarize the major conclusions that can be gathered from their usage. The result documents variable performance of the protocols and highlights their different applications in miRNA research. Taken together, our review provides a comprehensive overview of all the current small RNA-seq approaches, summarizes their strengths and weaknesses, and provides guidelines for their applications in miRNA research.

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xMD-miRNA-seq to generate near in vivo miRNA expression estimates in colon epithelial cells

10.1101/333658 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Avi Z. Rosenberg ◽

Carrie Wright ◽

Karen Fox-Talbot ◽

Anandita Rajpurohit ◽

Courtney Williams ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Epithelial Cells ◽

Small Rna ◽

Mirna Expression ◽

Low Cost ◽

Expression Patterns ◽

Small Rna Sequencing ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Cell Type

AbstractAccurate, RNA-seq based, microRNA (miRNA) expression estimates from primary cells have recently been described. However, this in vitro data is mainly obtained from cell culture, which is known to alter cell maturity/differentiation status, significantly changing miRNA levels. What is needed is a robust method to obtain in vivo miRNA expression values directly from cells. We introduce expression microdissection miRNA small RNA sequencing (xMD-miRNA-seq), a method to isolate cells directly from formalin fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. xMD-miRNA-seq is a low-cost, high-throughput, immunohistochemistry-based method to capture any cell type of interest. As a proof-of-concept, we isolated colon epithelial cells from two specimens and performed low-input small RNA-seq. We generated up to 600,000 miRNA reads from the samples. Isolated epithelial cells, had abundant epithelial-enriched miRNA expression (miR-192; miR-194; miR-200b; miR-200c; miR-215; miR-375) and overall similar miRNA expression patterns to other epithelial cell populations (colonic enteroids and flow-isolated colon epithelium). xMD-derived epithelial cells were generally not contaminated by other adjacent cells of the colon as noted by t-SNE analysis. xMD-miRNA-seq allows for simple, economical, and efficient identification of cell-specific miRNA expression estimates. Further development will enhance rapid identification of cell-specific miRNA expression estimates in health and disease for nearly any cell type using archival FFPE material.

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Identification and validation of miRNA reference genes in poplar under pathogen stress

10.21203/rs.3.rs-225734/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lichun Zhang ◽

Xiaoqian Yang ◽

Yiyi Yin ◽

Jinxing Wang ◽

Yanwei Wang

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Reference Gene ◽

Small Rna ◽

Reference Genes ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Small Rna Sequencing ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Internal Standards ◽

Qrt Pcr ◽

Canker Pathogen

Abstract Quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a common method to analyze gene expression. Due to differences in RNA quantity, quality, and reverse transcription efficiency between qRT-PCR samples, reference genes are used as internal standards to normalize gene expression. However, few universal genes especially miRNAs have been identified as reference so far. Therefore, it is essential to identify reference genes that can be used across various experimental conditions, stress treatments, or tissues. In this study, 14 microRNAs (miRNAs) and 5.8S rRNA were assessed for expression stability in poplar trees infected with canker pathogen. Using three reference gene analysis programs, we found that miR156g and miR156a exhibited stable expression throughout the infection process. miR156g and miR156a were then tested as internal standards to measure the expression of miR1447 and miR171c, and the results were compared to small RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. We found that when miR156a was used as the reference gene, the expression of miR1447 and miR171c were consistent with the small RNA-seq expression profiles. Therefore, miR156a was the most stable miRNAs examined in this study, and could be used as a reference gene in poplar under canker pathogen stress, which should enable comprehensive comparisons of miRNAs expression and avoid the bias caused by different lenth between detected miRNAs and traditional referece genes. The present study has expanded the miRNA reference genes available for gene expression studies in trees under biotic stress.

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Cadmium accumulation in the placenta associates with aberrant microRNA expression: results from a small RNA-Seq analysis

ISEE Conference Abstracts ◽

10.1289/isee.2020.virtual.p-0464 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 (1) ◽

Author(s):

J.M. Tehrani ◽

E. Kennedy ◽

F. Tian ◽

A. Burt ◽

K. Hermetz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Small Rna ◽

Cadmium Accumulation ◽

Microrna Expression ◽

Rna Seq

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Improving small RNA-seq by using a synthetic spike-in set for size-range quality control together with a set for data normalization

Nucleic Acids Research ◽

10.1093/nar/gkv303 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 43 (14) ◽

pp. e89-e89 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Mauro D. Locati ◽

Inez Terpstra ◽

Wim C. de Leeuw ◽

Mateusz Kuzak ◽

Han Rauwerda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Control ◽

Small Rna ◽

Size Range ◽

Data Normalization ◽

Rna Seq

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Effects of low temperature on mRNA and small RNA transcriptomes in Solanum lycopersicoides leaf revealed by RNA-Seq

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications ◽

10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.07.029 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 464 (3) ◽

pp. 768-773 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Hongyu Chen ◽

Xiuling Chen ◽

Xinfeng Chai ◽

Youwen Qiu ◽

Chao Gong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Temperature ◽

Small Rna ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Solanum Lycopersicoides

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Computational Identification of ceRNA and Reconstruction of ceRNA Regulatory Network Based on RNA-seq and Small RNA-seq Data in Plants

Modeling Transcriptional Regulation - Methods in Molecular Biology ◽

10.1007/978-1-0716-1534-8_17 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 261-275

Author(s):

Xiangyuan Wan ◽

Ziwen Li

Keyword(s):

Small Rna ◽

Regulatory Network ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Computational Identification

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Small RNA sequencing evaluation of renal microRNA biomarkers in dogs with X-linked hereditary nephropathy

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-96870-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Candice P. Chu ◽

Shiguang Liu ◽

Wenping Song ◽

Ethan Y. Xu ◽

Mary B. Nabity

Keyword(s):

Small Rna ◽

Target Genes ◽

Differentially Expressed ◽

Small Rna Sequencing ◽

Rna Seq ◽

Ckd Progression ◽

Critical Pathways ◽

Qrt Pcr ◽

Hereditary Nephropathy ◽

Differentially Expressed Mirnas

AbstractDogs with X-linked hereditary nephropathy (XLHN) are an animal model for Alport syndrome in humans and progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Using mRNA sequencing (mRNA-seq), we have characterized the gene expression profile affecting the progression of XLHN; however, the microRNA (miRNA, miR) expression remains unknown. With small RNA-seq and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR), we used 3 small RNA-seq analysis tools (QIAGEN OmicSoft Studio, miRDeep2, and CPSS 2.0) to profile differentially expressed renal miRNAs, top-ranked miRNA target genes, and enriched biological processes and pathways in CKD progression. Twenty-three kidney biopsies were collected from 5 dogs with XLHN and 4 age-matched, unaffected littermates at 3 clinical time points (T1: onset of proteinuria, T2: onset of azotemia, and T3: advanced azotemia). We identified up to 23 differentially expressed miRNAs at each clinical time point. Five miRNAs (miR-21, miR-146b, miR-802, miR-142, miR-147) were consistently upregulated in affected dogs. We identified miR-186 and miR-26b as effective reference miRNAs for qRT-PCR. This study applied small RNA-seq to identify differentially expressed miRNAs that might regulate critical pathways contributing to CKD progression in dogs with XLHN.

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