Monitoring extraction efficiency of small RNAs with the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer and the Small RNA Kit

High quality small RNA extraction is a critical aspect in miRNA expression profiling. Various RNA isolation methods using commercially available kits can extract total RNA enriched for small RNA. However, each of these protocols yields small RNA preparations that can differ in total quantity and quality, which may affect downstream experiments. This Application Note demonstrates the use of the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer with the RNA 6000 Nano and Small RNA kits for monitoring RNA integrity and small RNA extraction efficiency. RNAs extracted from three different commercially available kits were tested on the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer to determine the quality of the extracted RNA and uncover differences in total and small RNA yields. Author Suresh Babu C.V. Agilent Technologies Bangalore, India Application Note