microRNA are short RNAs 18-24bases in size that regulate gene expression through translation repression and transcript degradation.  Humans have over 2,400 microRNAs which are expressed in cell type-specific manners and can also be found in serum/plasma as cell-free RNA.  While we have learned much about microRNA function, there is still a need to identify microRNAs associated with disease since a single microRNA can regulate several genes or a gene can be regulated by multiple microRNAs.  Because of this complexity, a whole miRNome approach is often best during the early discovery portion of a research project and next generation sequencing offers an un-biased approach for miRNA analysis.

Come and learn how to utilize unique molecular indexing for microRNA discovery from cells and biofluids, such as serum and plasma, to uncover the mysteries of microRNA in your model systems.