miR-Direct® - Sensitive and Specific miRNA Quantification from Biofluids

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SomaGenics’ miR-Direct® is a novel assay for enriching and quantifying circulating extracellular miRNAs directly from plasma, serum, blood, or urine samples. The final miRNA quantification is accomplished using SomaGenics' miR-ID® qPCR method.  To detect particularly low abundant miRNAs, the sample input volume can be increased from typically 20 ul to 400 ul.

By using a capture probe, miR-Direct® eliminates the need for total RNA isolation, the most problematic and bias-prone step in currently available miRNA detection kits.

miR-Direct® utilizes solution-phase hybridization to capture probes, greatly improving the detection of low-abundance miRNAs over solid-state capture methods. This step allows to concentrate target miRNAs and to wash miRNAs to remove qPCR inhibitors from plasma, such as heparin.

Figure 1: Schematic of the miR-Direct™ steps. miRNA enrichment and circularization is followed by miR-ID®-based quantification. miR-ID® technology

Quantification of miRNAs with SomaGenics' miR-ID® technology utilizes circularization of the target miRNAs, thus preventing re-hybridization to the immobilized capture probe and thereby improving the sensitivity and reproducibility.

The entire miR-Direct® procedure is performed in a single tube and is amenable to automation.