Abstract

Highly Sensitive Direct Quantification of cf-microRNAs for Biomarker Profiling by Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Sergio Barberan-Soler, CEO, RealSeq Biosciences

Cell-free circulating microRNAs (cf-miRNAs) are promising diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for cancer and other diseases. cf-miRNAs are highly stable in biofluids and are therefore attractive as potential biomarkers via NGS-based detection compared to circulating DNA and protein markers. However, NGS detection of cf-miRNAs suffers from a high level of incorporation bias when sequencing libraries are prepared using the most widely used commercial kits. SomaGenics RealSeq library prep platform addresses this issue, with proven best-in-class accuracy of detection. The RealSeq platform includes a kit designed to profile miRNAs from biofluids (RealSeq-Biofluids) that typically detects four times as many cf-miRNAs as commercially available technologies. The latest kit in the RealSeq platform is RealSeq-T, the first targeted sequencing approach to detect panels of cf-miRNAs (up to 1,200) directly from plasma, with no organic extraction needed. Nearly 95% of sequenced reads from RealSeq-T libraries mapped to the miRNA panel. With these new capabilities, the RealSeq platform should advance the prospects of cf-miRNAs as clinical biomarkers.