Comparison of microRNA Profiling Platforms (NanoString)

Global miRNA expression profiling of human malignancies is gaining popularity in both basic and clinically driven research. But to date, the majority of such analyses have used microarrays and quantitative real-time PCR. With the introduction of digital count technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the NanoString nCounter System, we have at our disposal, many more options. To make effective use of these different platforms, the strengths and pitfalls of several miRNA profiling technologies were assessed, including a microarray platform, NGS technologies and the NanoString nCounter System. These results were compared to gold-standard quantitative real-time PCR. Comparison of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines grown in vitro (n = 5) and in vivo (n = 5) as xenograft models.