FAQ-2946
How much RNA does a typical mammalian cell contain?
The RNA content and RNA make up of a cell depend very much on its developmental stage and the type of cell. To estimate the approximate yield of RNA that can be expected from your starting material, we usually calculate that a typical mammalian cell contains 10–30 pg total RNA.
The majority of RNA molecules are tRNAs and rRNAs. mRNA accounts for only 1–5% of the total cellular RNA although the actual amount depends on the cell type and physiological state. Approximately 360,000 mRNA molecules are present in a single mammalian cell, made up of approximately 12,000 different transcripts with a typical length of around 2 kb. Some mRNAs comprise 3% of the mRNA pool whereas others account for less than 0.1%. These rare or low-abundance mRNAs may have a copy number of only 5–15 molecules per cell.
Related products
miRNeasy Kits
miRNeasy Kits enable purification of total RNA from all types of animal tissues and cells, including difficult-to-lyse tissues and small tissue and cell samples. Alternatively, an miRNA-enriched fraction and a total RNA (>200 nt) fraction can be purified separately (for separate purification, an RNeasy MinElute Cleanup Kit is required when using the miRNeasy Micro or Mini Kit and an additional RNeasy 96 plate when using the miRNeasy 96 Kit). Purification of 1–12 samples can be automated on the QIAcube Connect. High-throughput processing in convenient 96-well format can be performed using centrifugation or vacuum procedures. The NEW miRNeasy Tissue/Cells Advanced Mini Kit – get excellent results faster without phenol/chloroform using our QIAzol free Advanced chemistry. Try it today.
RNeasy Kits
RNeasy Kits are the gold standard for total RNA isolation. They provide fast purification of high-quality RNA from small to large amounts of cells, tissues, and yeast using silica membrane RNeasy spin columns or 96-well plates. Tissue samples can be conveniently stabilized using RNAprotect Tissue Reagent or Allprotect Tissue Reagent, and efficiently disrupted using a TissueRuptor II or TissueLyser II or LT system. The RNeasy 96 Kit enables high-throughput purification of total RNA from up to 96 cultured cell samples using silica membrane RNeasy 96 plates. A dedicated RNeasy QIAcube Kit enables automated purification of 1–12 samples on the QIAcube Connect.
miRNeasy Tissue/Cells Advanced Kits
The miRNeasy Tissue/Cells Advanced Kits are the second generation of the well-established miRNeasy Kits. These improved versions combine a phenol-free advanced chemistry with gDNA Eliminator Columns or gDNA 96 Eliminator Plates for safe and convenient RNA isolation. They enable purification of total RNA, including small RNAs ≥18 nucleotides, from animal tissues and cells, including small samples. The kits use spin columns for low-throughput RNA purification. The miRNeasy Tissue/Cells Advanced Mini Kit can be automated on the QIAcube Connect.
QIAwave RNA Mini Kit
The QIAwave RNA Mini Kit is an eco-friendlier version of our standard RNeasy Mini Kit. The kit uses up to 60% less plastic and up to 57% less cardboard than our standard kit and offers waste tubes made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic that you can reuse throughout the procedure. QIAwave buffers also come as concentrates, reducing the amount of plastic by up to 90% per bottle. To save paper, there are no printed protocols in the kit. Instead, you can download the protocols you need from the resources list or by simply scanning the QR code inside the box lid. So, while the kit packaging and components of our QIAwave Kit may look different, it’s as easy to use as the RNeasy Mini Kit, and the chemistry and performance are identical.
Please be aware that you will need sterile glass bottles to store the reconstituted buffers.
In partnership with My Green Lab, we've also assessed the environmental impact of this kit. My Green Lab ACT (accountability, consistency, and transparency) environmental impact factor labels are designed to evaluate and score products on several sustainability criteria. These include:
Manufacturing
Responsible chemical management
Sustainable content within products and packaging materials
Disposal of the packaging at the end of life
Products are scored from 1 to 10 except for energy and water consumption, which are scored as 1 point per kWh or gallon, respectively. A low score means a lower environmental impact (see figures "QIAwave RNA Mini Kit ACT environmental impact factor label US 50/250, EU 50/250 and UK 50/250").
The QIAwave RNA Mini Kit offers you fast purification of high-quality RNA from cells, tissues, and yeast using silica-membrane RNeasy Mini Spin Columns. Before extraction, you can stabilize tissue samples using RNAprotect Tissue Reagent or Allprotect Tissue Reagent, and to efficiently homogenize your tissue samples, you can use the TissueRuptor II, TissueLyser III or LT system.
The QIAwave RNA Mini Kit can be automated on the QIAcube Connect using the RNeasy Mini Kit protocols.
EZ2 RNA/miRNA Tissue/Cells Kit
The EZ2 RNA/miRNA Tissue/Cells Kit makes it easy and safe to purify total RNA – including miRNA and other small RNA – from cultured cells and various human or animal tissues. The process requires no use of phenols, and once the lysis step is completed, all remaining steps are automated with any EZ2 Connect instrument.