SLAMseq in mouse model of acute liver injury

Extracellular RNA (exRNA) mediates intercellular communication in plants and lower animals; whether it serves a signalling function in mammals is controversial. We sought to determine the scale of RNA transfer between liver and kidney through the metabolic labelling of RNA in mice. We used 4-thiouracil to specifically label RNA in hepatocytes and SLAMseq (SH-Linked Alkylation for the Metabolic sequencing of RNA) to detect labelled (thiolated) RNA in liver and kidney.