Rapid DNA and RNA isolation from few or single cells using low-cost NAxtra magnetic nanoparticles

A low-cost nucleic acid (NA) isolation method for purification of total NA, DNA or RNA from two- or three-dimensional cell culture was recently developed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) based on NAxtra magnetic nanoparticles. The method displayed similar yields to alternative isolation kits, as well as significant improvement in cost and speed. In molecular research, NA isolation from rare or single cells is of increasing interest. Here, we improved the sensitivity of the NAxtra-based NA isolation method to allow mid- to high-throughput purification from 10 000 cells down to single cells. Automated processing on KingFisher (Thermo Scientific) robot systems can be performed in 12-18 minutes for 96 samples. This method is considerably cheaper and faster than similar purification alternatives, while achieving comparable or superior detection by (RT)-qPCR. In addition, high-quality transcriptomics data can be obtained from RNA extracted from few or single cells. RNA sequencing of total RNA extracted from 1, 10, 100 and 1000 sorted cells (HAP1) using a novel, rapid, low-cost isolation method based on NAxtra technology.