Cell-specific RNA purification to study translatomes of mouse central nervous system

STAR Protoc. 2022 May 20;3(2):101397. doi: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101397. eCollection 2022 Jun 17.

Abstract

Cell-specific RNA sequencing has revolutionized the study of cell biology. Here, we present a protocol to assess cell-specific translatomes of genetically targeted cell types. We focus on astrocytes and describe RNA purification using RiboTag tools. Unlike single-cell RNA sequencing, this approach allows high sequencing depth to detect low expression genes, and the exploration of RNAs translated in subcellular compartments. Furthermore, it avoids underestimation of transcripts from cells susceptible to cell isolation procedures. The protocol can be applied to a variety of cell types. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Chai et al. (2017), Díaz-Castro et al. (2021), Díaz-Castro et al. (2019), Srinivasan et al. (2016), and Yu et al. (2018).

Keywords: Cell Biology; Gene Expression; Microscopy; Model Organisms; Molecular Biology; Neuroscience; Systems biology.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Base Sequence
  • Central Nervous System* / metabolism
  • Mice
  • RNA* / genetics
  • Sequence Analysis, RNA / methods

Substances

  • RNA