title: Quantification of mature microRNAs using pincer probes and real-time PCR amplification.
abstract: The robust and reliable detection of small microRNAs (miRNAs) is important to understand the functional significance of miRNAs. Several methods can be used to quantify miRNAs. Selectively quantifying mature miRNAs among miRNA precursors, pri-miRNAs, and other miRNA-like sequences is challenging because of the short length of miRNAs. In this study, we developed a two-step miRNA quantification system based on pincer probe capture and real-time PCR amplification. The performance of the method was tested using synthetic mature miRNAs and clinical RNA samples. Results showed that the method demonstrated dynamic range of seven orders of magnitude and sensitivity of detection of hundreds of copies of miRNA molecules. The use of pincer probes allowed excellent discrimination of mature miRNAs from their precursors with five Cq (quantification cycle) values difference. The developed method also showed good discrimination of highly homologous family members with cross reaction less than 5%. The pincer probe-based approach is a potential alternative to currently used methods for mature miRNA quantification.
authors.affiliation: Black Pig Research Institute, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China; College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Tinghua
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Black Pig Research Institute, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China; College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Guopin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Black Pig Research Institute, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding, and Reproduction of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Shuhong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D048348:Reverse Transcription; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D035683:MicroRNAs