Nano convergence, 2020.7(1), 1-0, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40580-019-0212-3

Direct electrophoretic microRNA preparation from clinical samples using nanofilter membrane

Lee K, Kang JH;Kim HM;Ahn J;Lim H;Lee J;Jeon WJ;Lee JH;Kim KB

Abstract

A method to directly collect negatively charged nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, in the biosamples simply by applying an electric field in between the sample and collection buffer separated by the nanofilter membrane is proposed. The nanofilter membrane was made of low-stress silicon nitride with a thickness of 100 nm, and multiple pores were perforated in a highly arranged pattern using nanoimprint technology with a pore size of 200 nm and a pore density of 7.22 × 108/cm2. The electrophoretic transport of hsa-mir-93-5p across the membrane was confirmed in pure microRNA (miRNA) mimic solution using quantitative reverse tranion-polymerase chain reactions (qRTPCR).
Consistency of the collected miRNA quantity, stability of the system during the experiment, and yield and purity of the prepared sample were discussed in detail to validate the effectiveness of the electrical protocol. Finally, in order to check the applicability of this method to clinical samples, liquid biopsy process was demonstrated by evaluating the miRNA levels in sera of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and healthy controls. This efficient system proposed a simple, physical idea in preparation of nucleic acid from biosamples, and demonstrated its compatibility to biological downstream applications such as qRT-PCR as the conventional nucleic acid extraction protocols.

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40580-019-0212-3
• ISBN or ISSN: 2196-5404

• 본 연구는 질병관리본부 연구개발과제연구비를 지원받아 수행되었습니다.
• This research was supported by a fund by Research of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.