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Direct quantification of 3′ terminal 2′-O-methylation of small RNAs by RT-qPCR

Modification of nucleotides significantly increases the diversity of functional nucleic acids. As one of the most common modifications of RNAs, methylation of the 2′-hydroxyl-group of ribonucleotides (2′-O-methylation) has been found in various RNAs in eukaryotes. However, due to the lack of an effi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wang, Nan, Qu, Shuang, Sun, Wu, Zeng, Ziyi, Liang, Hongwei, Zhang, Chen-Yu, Chen, Xi, Zen, Ke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6191718/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30076204
http://dx.doi.org/10.1261/rna.065144.117
Descripción
Sumario:Modification of nucleotides significantly increases the diversity of functional nucleic acids. As one of the most common modifications of RNAs, methylation of the 2′-hydroxyl-group of ribonucleotides (2′-O-methylation) has been found in various RNAs in eukaryotes. However, due to the lack of an efficient method for quantifying small RNA 3′ terminal 2′-O-methylation, it is difficult to monitor the dynamic change of 3′ terminal 2′-O-methylation during various biological processes. Capitalizing on the finding that 3′ terminal RNA 2′-O-methylation can inhibit the activity of poly(A) polymerase, an enzyme that can add the poly(A)-tail to RNA, we develop a method by which the 2′-O-methylation level of small RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs) and Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), can be directly quantified based on the poly(A)-tailed RT-qPCR technique. With this method, we successfully determine the 2′-O-methylation level of miRNAs in Arabidopsis thaliana and mouse lung tissue, piRNA in human seminal plasma, and monitor the alteration of miRNA 2′-O-methylation in Drosophila Schneider 2 cells after knockdown of Drosophila methyltransferase protein Hua enhancer 1 (DmHen-1).