Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA™) is superior for microRNA detection
LNA™-enhanced capture probes are designed to have similar binding affinity for all microRNAs regardless of their GC-content. DNA-based capture probes, on the other hand, are unreliable for up to half of all microRNAs due to limitations in the affinity for targets with low GC-content.
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LNA™-enhanced capture probes ensures robust detection of microRNAs. LNA™-based capture probes ensures robust and reliable detection of microRNAs compared with DNA based capture probes which are unreliable for up to half of all microRNAs. Shown in the graphs is the signal strength (log2 signal/100amol target) from the same 660 synthetic microRNAs hybridized to Exiqon's miRCURY LNA™ microRNA Array and Supplier A's DNA based array. Signals below 4 log2 are considered under the detection limit whereas signals above 8 log2 are considered acceptable. The variation in DNA capture probe performance is linked with the GC content of the target microRNAs. |
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MicroRNAs represent challenging targets for microarray studies due to their small size and varying GC-content (5-95%). Because of these variations, DNA-based microarray capture probes bind to their targets with varying affinity. This results in unreliable detection of up to half of all microRNAs and many microRNAs with low GC-content are simply undetectable. MicroRNA microarray systems with DNA probes may therefore introduce a bias in the microRNA expression data.
The use of LNA™-enhanced capture probes overcomes the challenges of variations in microRNA sequence and GC-content by ensuring that all capture probes have similar affinity towards their microRNA target.
By simply varying the LNA™ content, capture probes with specific duplex melting temperatures can be designed. This means that microarray capture probes can be
Tm-normalized, which ensures robust and reliable detection of all microRNAs regardless of sequence and GC-content.
Learn more about the LNA™ technology.
Learn more about Exiqon's LNA™-based microRNA Arrays here or contact us directly to learn more about how LNA™ technology can improve your microRNA analyses.
Learn about Exiqon's microRNA microarrays