Thompson SD, Pichika R, Lieber RL, Lavasani M. Extracting high-quality RNA from formaldehyde-fixed naturally aged neuromusculoskeletal tissues.
Biotechniques 2024;
76:153-160. [PMID:
38334498 PMCID:
PMC10988388 DOI:
10.2144/btn-2023-0092]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Modern approaches to discovering molecular mechanisms and validating treatments for age-related neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction typically rely on high-throughput transcriptome analysis. Previously harvested and fixed tissues offer an incredible reservoir of untapped molecular information. However, obtaining RNA from such formaldehyde-fixed neuromusculoskeletal tissues, especially fibrotic aged tissues, is technically challenging and often results in RNA degradation, chemical modification and yield reduction, prohibiting further analysis. Therefore, we developed a protocol to extract high-quality RNA from formaldehyde-fixed brain, cartilage, muscle and peripheral nerve isolated from naturally aged mice. Isolated RNA produced reliable gene expression data comparable to fresh and flash-frozen tissues and was sensitive enough to detect age-related changes, making our protocol valuable to researchers in the field of aging.
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