Abstract

The signature sequence amplification method (SSAM) described herein is an approach for amplifying noncoding RNA (ncRNA), microRNA (miRNA), and small polynucleotide sequences. A key point of the SSAM technology is the generation of signature sequences. The signature sequences include target sequences (miRNA, ncRNA, and/or any small polynucleotide sequence) flanked by two DNA fragments. Target sequences can be amplified through DNA synthesis, RNA synthesis, or the combination of DNA and RNA synthesis. The amplification of signature sequences provides an efficient and reproducible mechanism to determine the presence or absence of the target miRNAs/ncRNAs, to analyze the quantities of the miRNAs in biological samples, and for miRNA/ncRNA profiling.

Keywords: Amplification kit, first oligonucleotide, gene expression, gene targets, in vitro transcription, microarray, microRNAs, molecular biology, neuroscience, noncoding RNAs, novel gene identification, polynucleotide sequences, qPCR, RNA amplification, RNA, second oligonucleotide, signature sequence, streptavidin beads.