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Updated: Mar 19, 2026
Single-cell RNA Sequencing and Analysis of Human Pancreatic Islets
Published on: July 18, 2019
A Systematic Comparison of Purification and Normalization Protocols for Quantitative MicroRNA Expressional Profiling
Anna Lindeløv Vestergaard1, Maaike Blankestijn2, Jonathan Lucien Stahl3
1Laboratory for Immuno-Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. alv@sund.ku.dk.
Abstract:
As microRNAs (miRs) are gaining increasing attention as key regulators of cellular processes, expressional quantification is widely applied. However, in the processing of relatively quantified data, the importance of testing the stability of several reference mRNAs and/or miRs and choosing among these for normalization is often overlooked, potentially leading to biased results. Here, we have optimized the purification of miR-enriched total RNA from pancreatic insulin-producing INS-1 cells. Additionally, we optimized and analyzed miR expression by a qPCR-based microarray and by specific qPCR and tested the stability of candidate reference mRNAs and miRs. Hence, this study gives a widely applicable example on how to easily and systematically test and decide how to normalize miR quantification. We suggest that caution in the interpretation of miR quantification studies that do not comprise stability analysis should be exerted.
