Assessment of magnetic bead-based automated whole blood RNA-isolation from a validated RNA stabilization reagent (Tempus Blood RNA)

摘要

We read with great interest the article of Matheson et al. (2008) who compared two RNA stabilizing reagents (Tempus Blood RNA and PAXgene) concerning RNA yield, RNA quality, and the cost of RNA isolation. In their study, the isolation of total RNA out of stabilized blood was carried out manually according to the manufacturer's protocols. The use of Tempus Blood RNA resulted in a higher yield of total RNA, better measures of quality, and lower costs. Matheson et al. emphasized the importance of effective and reasonably priced RNA preservation in the research on rare diseases, such as the majority of autoimmune rheumatic diseases, which often require a collaborative effort of large and small centers. Important obstacles for the routine storage of such RNA samples in biorepositories consist in the need for reliable RNA preparation of high quality despite transportation, the time-consuming isolation of RNA, and high costs, amongst other reasons.