New RNA sequencing Method Detect Small RNAs

A group of biomedical scientists at the University of California developed a new RNA sequencing Method. The new method is the Panoramic RNA Display by Overcoming RNA Modification Aborted Sequencing or PANDORA-seq that can help discover numerous modified small RNAs that were previously undetectable.

The RNA plays a role in decoding the genetic information in DNA to sustain an organism’s life. It is known as the intermediate molecule used to synthesize proteins from DNA. The Cells are full of RNA molecules in complex and diverse forms, two main types being ribosomal RNA or rRNA; and transfer RNA, or tRNA; which are involved in the synthesis of proteins.Small RNAs play roles in health and diseases, including cancer, diabetes, neurological diseases, and infertility. The small RNAs are microRNA; piwi-interacting RNA, or piRNA; and tRNA-derived small RNA, or tsRNA. They can get modified by chemical groups and thus acquire new functions.

The development of high-throughput RNA sequencing technologies — useful for examining the quantity and sequences of RNA in a biological sample — has uncovered an expanding repertoire of small RNA populations that fine-tune gene expression and protect genomes. PANDORA-seq employs a stepwise enzymatic treatment to remove key RNA modifications, which then takes off the invisibility cloak used by the modified small RNAs.

Tong Zhou, a bioinformatician at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine and a co-corresponding author of the study said that PANDORA-seq has opened Pandora’s box of small RNAs. According to Chen, the new RNA sequencing Method uncovers the small-RNA landscape that is dominated by tsRNAs and rRNA-derived small RNAs, or rsRNAs, rather than microRNAs. That was previously believed to dominate many mammalian tissues and cells.