ribonucleic acid (RNA)

Introduction

Cellular RNA consists of:

• rRNA (80%)
• mRNA (polyA+ RNA is 2-6% of total RNA)
• tRNA

Yield of total RNA varies widely from from tissue & cells.

Quantitation of RNA by ultraviolet absorbance:

• E(260) is 40 mL/ug cm, thus 40 x absorbance at 260 nm gives concentration of RNA (assuming purity)
• the ratio of A(260)/A(280) is a measure of RNA purity;
  • values of 1.7-2.1 are generally acceptable

Qualitative assessment of RNA by agarose gel electrophoresis:

• inspection for 28S & 18S rRNA
  • band intensity of 28S/18S rRNA should be > 2

More general terms

• polynucleotide

More specific terms

• antigene RNA (agRNA)
• complementary RNA (cRNA)
• double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)
• heterologous nuclear RNA (hnRNA)
• messenger RNA
• non-coding RNA (ncRNA)
• Piwi-interacting RNA
• ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
• RMRP RNA
• small nuclear RNA (snRNA)
• synthetic/pharmaceutical RNA
• telomerase RNA template component (TER, TERC)
• transfer RNA (tRNA)
• vault RNA (vRNA)
• Y-RNA