Agilent introduces first commercial RNA target enrichment system

Agilent Technologies, Inc., (NYSE:A) today introduced SureSelect RNA Capture Kits, the first commercial RNA target enrichment system enabling geneticists to focus on specific genomic loci or transcripts of research interest. The RNA capture kits make it possible to precisely measure expression levels of genes of interest and detect allelic-specific expression, splicing events and gene fusions.

“Discovery of EML4-ALK mutations in lung cancer has lead to the development of promising ALK inhibitors. We're confident that researching novel therapeutic targets such as oncogenic fusions will help facilitate development of personalized medicine for other cancers as well.”

This groundbreaking product is based on the work done by Joshua Levin et al. at the Broad Institute, and marks the latest development to emerge from Agilent's ongoing collaboration with researchers at the Broad.

"Agilent SureSelect RNA Capture improves the efficiency of RNA-seq for cancer research and is an essential tool for finding novel fusion genes from our tumor cDNA libraries," said Hiroyuki Mano, M.D., Ph.D, professor at Jichi Medical University and the University of Tokyo. "Discovery of EML4-ALK mutations in lung cancer has lead to the development of promising ALK inhibitors. We're confident that researching novel therapeutic targets such as oncogenic fusions will help facilitate development of personalized medicine for other cancers as well."

Multi-omics Capability

Researchers can use the new RNA capture kits to combine targeted genome and transcriptome data in a single experiment for "integrated biology" insight into the sample. This is accomplished by creating custom SureSelect designs that can enrich up to 6.8 Mb of DNA and RNA for the same set of genes. Agilent's eArray design tool lets users customize the kits to their exact experimental needs.

"RNA sequencing is rapidly becoming a powerful tool for transcriptome profiling," said Fred P. Ernani, Ph.D., Agilent marketing director, SureSelect platform. "Our RNA capture kits enable the detection of rare events and will provide robust and cost-effective means to sequence targeted RNA for researchers. Our genomic DNA target enrichment system has been extremely successful and effective for genetic discovery as evidenced by more than 30 publications in high-impact journals to date. We anticipate our RNA kits to have a similar impact on genetic discovery."

Kinome RNA Kits

In addition to the custom SureSelect RNA Capture kits, Agilent has introduced SureSelect Human Kinome kits for RNA target enrichment. These kits facilitate analysis of the most comprehensive set available of kinases and kinase-regulated genes. Researchers can use the kinome kits for both DNA and RNA enrichment to analyze the effects of genomic variation on transcription regulation.

The kits are optimized for the leading next-generation sequencing platforms, including Illumina Genome Analyzer and HiSeq as well as Life Technologies' SOLiD. Workflows can easily scale up because samples can be indexed for multiplex sequencing, and all reagents are automation-compatible. Turnkey automation protocols for RNA capture will soon be added to the list of available automation protocols on Agilent's Bravo automated liquid-handling system.

SureSelect custom and catalog kits for RNA capture are available to enrich regions from less than 200 Kb through 6.8 Mb, and from five through 10,000 reactions per kit.

The SureSelect Target Enrichment System was cited by Science Magazine in two of the Top 10 Breakthroughs of 2010 - "Reading the Neandertal Genome" and "Homing In on Errant Genes" - in its Dec. 17 issue.