TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR
microRNA ANALYSIS

9:00 am Welcoming Remarks from Conference Director

9:05 Opening Remarks:
Jon D. Moulton, Ph.D., Gene Tools, LLC

9:15 miRNA Expression Profiling Technologies and Research Applications
Mike Wilson, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Array R&D Manager, Asuragen, Inc.
This workshop session will review the methods and technologies for miRNA expression profiling. Methods for quantitative recovery of small RNA species during RNA purification will be presented, with particular attention to yields from whole blood and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues. A survey of the current technology platforms for multiplex analysis of miRNA expression profiling will be presented. Important issues to consider with respect to data analysis and normalization will be addressed. 

9:45 High-Throughput Profiling of miRNAs in Neural Stem Cells
Peng Jin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, and Keith Szulwach, Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine
MicroRNAs have been implicated in the maintenance and differentiation of stem cells. In this presentation, we will discuss our work on high-throughput profiling of miRNAs in neural stem cells using different technologies.

10:15 Coffee Break

10:35 Whole miRNA/mRNA Profiling from Single Embryonic Stem Cell and Early Embryos
Kai Q. Lao, Ph.D., Principal Scientist, Applied Biosystems
We developed a real-time PCR-based, 330-plex miRNA, expression profiling method that is sensitive and accurate enough to profile miRNA from samples as small as a single cell, such as an Embryonic stem cell. This technique will greatly facilitate miRNA-related research on stem cells and early embryos. It should also be of use in studies on carcinogenesis where only limited amounts of material is available from tissue biopsies or archived material.

11:05 Temporal Interference of MicroRNA Maturation and in situ Labelling of miRNA in Zebrafish Using Morpholino Oligonuceotides
Msc. Anne Karine Lagendijk, Hubrecht Institute Group: J. Bakkers, Genetics of Cardiac Development
Few microRNA knockout studies have been reported; mutagenizing small microRNA alleles is extremely difficult. Morpholino oligos are efficient tools to temporally knock down single microRNAs in zebrafish embryos, which revealed aberrant pancreatic islet development when inhibiting miR-375. We also used Morpholinos to label microRNAs /in situ/, demonstrating their versatility.

11:35 Technologies Q&A Panel Discussion

12:00pm End of Workshop