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Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and Cancer

The discovery of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) and their role in gene regulation represents a significant advance in cancer research. These ncRNAs interact with DNA, RNA or protein molecules and/or some combination therof, acting as an essential regulator in chromatin organization, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional regulation. The functional relevance of ncRNAs is particularly evident for microRNAs (miRNAs) and long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), which have been associated with all stages of cancer including diagnosis, staging, progression, prognosis, and response to treatment. Their misexpression confers upon a cancer cell the capacity for tumor initiation, growth, and metastasis, making ncRNAs attractive therapeutic targets and potentially useful diagnostic tools.

Active Motif has developed an extensive selection of tools and services to study the various aspects of ncRNA mediated gene regulation.


Purify nuclear and cytoplasmic specific RNA populations
RNA Subcellular Isolation Kit Our RNA Subcellular Isolation Kit provides an efficient method to isolate nuclear, cytoplasmic, or total RNA without cross-contamination or the use of phenolic compounds. This method also improves the accuracy of gene expression profiling and can help to localize long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) to their site of action, which can provide important insights into their functional role. More >

Measure the transcriptional regulation of lncRNA promoters
lnc RNA Active Motif’s LightSwitch™ lncRNA Promoter Reporter Vectors make it fast and easy to study the unique regulation of lncRNA promoters using the LightSwitch™ Luciferase Assay System. Each sequence-verified, transfection-ready reporter construct contains the promoter region of a lncRNA gene cloned from the human genome. More >

Isolate mRNA targets of miRNAs
antibodies The Active Motif miRNA Target IP Kit is designed to identify the physical interactions of a specific miRNA with endogenous mRNA transcripts. The immunoprecipitation of miRNA/mRNA complexes enables validation of the specific binding targets of your miRNA of interest. More >

Study the impact of miRNAs on gene regulation
Tools to Study Gene Regulation Choose from over 12,000 endogenous human 3´UTR clones that make up the LightSwitch 3´UTR Reporter Collection. These are ideal for performing miRNA target validation, as well as assessing the functional impact of miRNA-3´UTR interactions. In combination with the miRNA Mimics and Inhibitors, which are co-transfected with the 3´UTR Reporter constructs, you have everything needed to validate miRNA targets, measure RNA stability, translation efficiency, and the functional impact of miRNAs on a gene-by-gene basis. More >

Determine the impact of overexpression and inhibition of miRNAs in cells
LightSwitch™ Mimics & Inhibitors The LightSwitch miRNA mimics and inhibitors provide a means to efficiently study the function of specific miRNAs in a range of organisms, and to validate their role in regulating target genes. The Mimics are chemically optimized synthetic double-stranded RNAs acting as functional equivalents to endogenous human miRNAs by up-regulating miRNA activity. The inhibitors, on the other hand, are used to knock down the expression of endogenous human miRNAs. Together they enable an miRNA functional analysis in living cells. More >