Droplet Digital PCR for Absolute Quantification of Extracellular MicroRNAs in Plasma and Serum: Quantification of the Cancer Biomarker hsa-miR-141.
Publication Title
Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.)
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2018
Keywords
Absolute quantification; Biofluids; Digital PCR; MicroRNA; Plasma; Reproducibility; Serum; qPCR
Abstract
Droplet-based digital PCR provides high-precision, absolute quantification of nucleic acid target sequences with wide-ranging applications for both research and clinical diagnostic applications. Droplet-based digital PCR enables absolute quantification by counting nucleic acid molecules encapsulated in discrete, volumetrically defined water-in-oil droplet partitions. The current available systems overcome the previous lack of scalable and practical technologies for digital PCR implementation. Extracellular microRNAs in biofluids (plasma, serum, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, etc.) are promising noninvasive biomarkers in multiple diseases and different clinical settings (e.g., diagnosis, early diagnosis, prediction of recurrence, and prognosis). Here we describe a protocol that enables highly precise and reproducible absolute quantification of extracellular microRNAs using droplet digital PCR.
Specialty/Research Institute
Institute for Systems Biology
