Effect of RNA integrity on uniquely mapped reads in RNA-Seq

BACKGROUND: We examined the performance of three RNA-Sequencing library preparation protocols as a function of RNA integrity, comparing gene expressions between heat-degraded samples to their high-quality counterparts. This work is invaluable given the difficulty of obtaining high-quality RNA from tissues, particularly those from individuals with disease phenotypes. RESULTS: With the integrity of total RNA being a critical parameter for RNA-Sequencing analysis, degraded RNA can heavily influence the results of gene expression profiles. We discovered that gene expression read results are influenced by RNA quality when a common library construction protocol is used. These results are based on one technical experiment from a pool of 4 neural progenitor cell lines. CONCLUSIONS: The use of alternative protocols can allow samples with a wider range of RNA qualities to be used, facilitating the investigation of disease tissues.