Extracting high-quality RNA from formaldehyde-fixed naturally aged neuromusculoskeletal tissues

Biotechniques. 2024 Feb 9. doi: 10.2144/btn-2023-0092. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTModern approaches to discovering molecular mechanisms and validating treatments for age-related neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction typically rely on high-throughput transcriptome analysis. Previously harvested and fixed tissues offer an incredible reservoir of untapped molecular information. However, obtaining RNA from such formaldehyde-fixed neuromusculoskeletal tissues, especially fibrotic aged tissues, is technically challenging and often results in RNA degradation, chemical modification and yield reduction, prohibiting further analysis. Therefore, we developed a protocol to extract high-quality RNA from formaldehyde-fixed brain, cartilage, muscle and peripheral nerve isolated from naturally aged mice. Isolated RNA produced reliable gene expression data comparable to fresh and flash-frozen tissues and was sensitive enough to detect age-related changes, making our protocol valuable to researchers in the field of aging.PMID:38334498 | DOI:10.2144/btn-2023-0092

Source: BioTechniques - February 9, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Seth D Thompson Rajeswari Pichika Richard L Lieber Mitra Lavasani Source Type: research