The authors would like to thank members of the Yi laboratory especially Zhaojie Zhang for fruitful discussions regarding linker design and ligation efficiencies, as well as the American Cancer Society for supporting this work through a postdoctoral fellowship (#125209) to J.E.L. Research reported in this publication was also supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AR059697 (to R.Y.) and a research grant from the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

NOTE: It is critical to maintain RNase-free conditions during the entire procedure.
1. Adenylation of 3&#8217; Linker
<ol>
	<li>Dilute DNA oligonucleotide designed for 3&#8217; ligation reactions to 100 &#956;M in nuclease-free H2O. 
	NOTE: The oligonucleotide should have a 5&#8217; phosphate group, a randomized dinucleotide at the 5&#8217; end, and a 3&#8217; dideoxycytosine. The 5&#8217; phosphate group is a requirement of the Mth enzyme for efficient 5&#8217; aden...

<ol>
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P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+ENCODE+(ENCyclopedia+Of+DNA+Elements)+Project.">The ENCODE (ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements) Project.</a> Science. 306 (5696), 636-640 (2004).</li><li>Consortium, T. E. P. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=An+integrated+encyclopedia+of+DNA+elements+in+the+human+genome.">An integrated encyclopedia of DNA elements in the human genome.</a> Nature. 489 (7414), 57-74 (2012).</li><li>Linsen, S. E. 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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

The methodology described herein makes use of several key variables to maximize ligation efficiencies, namely high concentrations of PEG, use of randomized linkers, and high concentration of linkers2,6,9. This approach permits reliably quantitative sequencing libraries from total RNA samples2. We have conducted multiple titrations of input RNA and have concluded that the preceding methodology is best suited for total RNA amounts in the 1-8 &#956;g range (data not shown). When amounts in the 10-500 n...

High-throughput sequencing based methodologies have been widely applied to many biological samples in recent years greatly expanding our understanding of the molecular complexity of biological systems3,4. However, preparation of RNA samples for high-throughput sequencing often imparts specific biases inherent to the employed methodology, limiting the potential utility of these powerful techniques. These method specific biases have been well documented for ligation-based, small-RNA library preparations1,2,5,6. These biases result in 1,000-fold variation in reads numbers for equimolar synthetic miRNAs, making inference of miRNA abundance from sequencing data wildly variable and error prone.
Studies focusing on the properties of phage-derived T4 RNA ligases have documented that the enzymes exhibit nucleotide-based preferences7, which manifest as biased libraries in high-throughput sequencing experiments1,2,8. In order to minimize the biases imparted by RNA ligases, multiple strategies have been employed; macromolecular crowding9, randomizing the nucleotide sequence on the adapter which is proximal to the ligation site6, and employing high concentrations of ligation adapter2. Through a combination of these three approaches we have developed a work-flow for unbiased preparation of small RNA libraries compatible for high-throughput sequencing (Figure 1). For direct comparisons between current protocols and our optimized method, please refer to our recent report2. This optimized method yields ligation efficiencies of greater than 95% at both 3&#8217; and 5&#8217; steps and permits the unbiased ligation of small RNA molecules from synthetic and biological samples2.

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="873">
	<tbody>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Name of Reagent/ Equipment</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">Catalog Number</td>
			<td style="width:280px;">Comments/Description</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:261px;">3&#39; Linker (5&#39; phosphorylated, 3&#39; blocked)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Integrated DNA Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">custom</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:261px;">5&#39; Linker</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Integrated DNA Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">custom</td>
			<td>5&#39; blocked, HPLC Purified</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">T4RNL2 (1-249 K227Q)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">M0351S</td>
			<td>Specialized for ligation of pre-adenylated DNA adapters</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">10X Ligation Buffer (without ATP)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">Included with M0351S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">10X Ligation Buffer (with ATP)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">Included with M0204L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">RNaseOUT&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">10777-019</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Polyethylene Glycol (mol. Wt. 8000)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">Included with M0204L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Nuclease-free water</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Ambion</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">AM9937</td>
			<td>We have found water collected from a distillation apparatus to be of equvalent quality.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">T4RNL1</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">M0204L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Superscript III RT kit</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">18080-051&#160;</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Phusion PCR kit</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">M0530S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:261px;">Illumina RP1 Primer</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Integrated DNA Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">custom</td>
			<td>Sequence information available from Illumina</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:261px;">Illumina RT Primer</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Integrated DNA Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">custom</td>
			<td>Sequence information available from Illumina</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:261px;">Illumina Index Primer(s)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Integrated DNA Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">custom</td>
			<td>Sequence information available from Illumina</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">40% Acrylamide</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">BP14081</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Urea</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">U6504</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Ammonium persulfate</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">A3678</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Tetramethyethylenediamine (TEMED)</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Sigma Aldrich</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">T9281</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">2X Denaturing RNA loading buffer</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">Included with M0351S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Razor blades</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">VWR</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">55411-050</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">SpinX Centricon Tubes</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Costar</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">CLS8161</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Low Retention Microfuge tubes</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">02-681-320</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Sybr Gold</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">S-11494</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:261px;">Adenylation Kit</td>
			<td style="width:175px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:157px;">E2610L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

highly efficient ligation of small rna molecules for microrna quantitation by high-throughput sequencing

MiRNA cloning and high-throughput sequencing, termed miR-Seq, stands alone as a transcriptome-wide approach to quantify miRNAs with single nucleotide resolution. This technique captures miRNAs by attaching 3&#8217; and 5&#8217; oligonucleotide adapters to miRNA molecules and allows de novo miRNA discovery. Coupling with powerful next-generation sequencing platforms, miR-Seq has been instrumental in the study of miRNA biology. However, significant biases introduced by oligonucleotide ligation steps have prevented miR-Seq from being employed as an accurate quantitation tool. Previous studies demonstrate that biases in current miR-Seq methods often lead to inaccurate miRNA quantification with errors up to 1,000-fold for some miRNAs1,2. To resolve these biases imparted by RNA ligation, we have developed a small RNA ligation method that results in ligation efficiencies of over 95% for both 3&#8217; and 5&#8242; ligation steps. Benchmarking this improved library construction method using equimolar or differentially mixed synthetic miRNAs, consistently yields reads numbers with less than two-fold deviation from the expected value. Furthermore, this high-efficiency miR-Seq method permits accurate genome-wide miRNA profiling from in vivo total RNA samples2.

The anticipated results for the preceding method should initially be observation of a single nucleotide shift (increase) in the size of the DNA oligonucleotide that was subject to adenylation by Mth RNA ligase (Figure 2). Following 3&#8217; ligation, visualization of the acrylamide gel indicates (see Figure 3) sharp high molecular weight bands evident in the 100-300 nucleotide region of the gel. This indicates that the total RNA sample being used is of high quality (not degraded...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Highly Efficient Ligation of Small RNA Molecules for MicroRNA Quantitation by High-Throughput Sequencing at JoVE.com

Highly Efficient Ligation of Small RNA Molecules for MicroRNA Quantitation by High-Throughput Sequencing

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a widely conserved class of regulatory molecules. Here we describe a miRNA cloning method that relies upon two potent ligation steps followed by high-throughput sequencing. Our method permits accurate genome-wide quantitation of miRNAs.

MiRNA cloning and high-throughput sequencing, termed miR-Seq, stands alone as a transcriptome-wide approach to quantify miRNAs with single nucleotide ...

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Biology

11.8K Views.  University of Colorado, Boulder. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a widely conserved class of regulatory molecules. Here we describe a miRNA cloning method that relies upon two potent ligation steps followed by high-throughput sequencing. Our method permits accurate genome-wide quantitation of miRNAs. 