Characterization of human plasma-derived exosomal RNAs

Exosomes, endosome-derived membrane microvesicles, contain a specific set of RNA transcripts that are involved in cell-cell communication and hold a great potential as disease biomarkers. To systemically characterize exosomal RNA profiles, we performed RNA sequencing analysis using three human plasma samples and evaluated efficacies of small RNA library preparation protocols from 3 manufacturers. We tested the six samples (A1 and A2, B1 and B2, C1 and C2) using two small RNA library preparation kits: NEBNext Multiplex Small RNA library Prep Set from New England Biolab (NEB) and NEXTflex Small RNA Sequencing Kit from Bioo Scientific (BS). We also tested Illumina’s TrueSeq Small RNA Sample Preparation Kit (ILMN) in sample A1 and A2. Together, we tested these plasma samples by sequencing 14 indexed libraries. This study allowed direct comparison of current small RNA library preparation protocols and identified the most suitable strategy for future exosomal RNA sequencing analysis.