title: Comparison and optimization of methods for the simultaneous extraction of DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites.
abstract: The challenge of performing a time-resolved comprehensive analysis of molecular systems has led to the quest to optimize extraction methods. When the size of a biological sample is limited, there is demand for the simultaneous extraction of molecules representing the four areas of "omics": genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. Here we optimized a protocol for the simultaneous extraction of DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites and compared it with two existing protocols. Our optimization comprised the addition of a methanol/chloroform metabolite purification before the separation of DNA/RNA and proteins. Extracted DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites were quantitatively and/or qualitatively analyzed. Of the three methods, only the newly developed protocol yielded all biomolecule classes of adequate quantity and quality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Fränze
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vorreiter
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Silke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany; Faculty of Biosciences, Pharmacy, and Psychology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Chemistry and Biosciences, Aalborg University, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: von Bergen
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Systems Biology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany. Electronic address: janina.tomm@ufz.de.
authors.forename: Janina M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tomm
mesh_terms: D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical / Q000379:methods*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D012313:RNA; D004247:DNA
keywords: Genomics; Metabolomics; Molecular systems biology; Proteomics; Transcriptomics