Norgen's kits quickly purify total RNA, including microRNA, without using phenol.
Kit Formats
Spin column
- 50 Preps
- 100 Preps
- 250 Preps
- 500 Preps
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Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation
High throughput
- 2 × 96-Well Plates
- 6 × 96-Well Plates

Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation
High throughput deep well
- 2 × 96-Well Plates
- 6 × 96-Well Plates

Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation
Overview
Features and benefits
- Extraction of high-quality and abundant total RNA, including miRNA
- Extraction of total RNA without the use of phenol or chloroform
- Bind and elute all RNA without bias, regardless of size or GC content
- Extremely sensitive and linear down to a small number of cells without requiring carrier RNA
- For RNA extraction, a large range of specimens can be processed
- Significantly more small RNA is isolated than with a competing total RNA extraction kit
- Purified RNA can be used for small RNA sequencing and other downstream processes
- Spin column chromatography, which makes use of Norgen's exclusive resin separation matrix, is the basis for purification.
- Magnetic bead purification is the most efficient method, and it is compatible with a wide range of automation systems.
- Offered in multiple formats to meet specific needs.
These kits can be used to isolate total RNA from a variety of samples, such as cells, bacteria, yeast, viruses, and bodily fluids like blood, saliva, plasma/serum, CSF, and more. High-quality, pure RNA with outstanding RIN values and A260/A280 can be extracted for use in qRT-PCR, RT-PCR, microarrays, NGS, and other downstream processes.
Without the need for phenol, these kits purify RNA of all sizes, from large mRNA and lncRNA to microRNA (miRNA), in the same fraction. Regardless of size, isolate every RNA sequence at the same rate. Furthermore, the column binds small RNAs regardless of their GC content when the RNA sequences are small (such as miRNA).
Total RNA purification 96-well kit (high throughput and high throughput deep well)
Utilizing a vacuum manifold, plate centrifuge, or liquid handlers with vacuum capabilities, this 96-well kit offers a quick and efficient way to isolate and purify total RNA in a high-throughput manner in 30 minutes. Numerous sample sources, such as cultured cells, tissues, blood, serum, plasma, bacteria, yeast, fungi, and viruses, can yield total RNA
Magnetic bead kits
The Total RNA Purification Kit (Magnetic Bead System) utilizes magnetic beads as the basis for its extraction method. The kit is intended to separate and purify total RNA from various sample types, such as swabs, body fluids, bacteria, yeast, fungi, viruses, and animal and plant tissues. It is an alternative to column and plate extraction.
The protocol can be carried out automatically or manually. Purified total RNA can be used in any assay for a downstream application. This product is not intended for use in diagnostic procedures but only for research purposes.
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Details
Supporting data

Figure 1. High Quality of Isolated RNA with Complete Size Range. Unlike most competitors' kits, Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit allows for the isolation of all sizes of RNA, from the very large RNA down to the microRNA, without the use of phenol. Total RNA was isolated from 1 × 109 E coli cells using Norgen’s Total RNA Purification Kit and a competitor’s kit. Five microliters and 1 µL of the 50 µL isolated RNA was analyzed on an agarose gel (Panel A) and the Agilent® 2100 BioAnalyzer RNA Nano 6000 chip (Panel B), respectively. Note the presence of small RNA species (red square) in the samples isolated via Norgen's kit and the absence of these RNA species in the competitor RNA preparation. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 2. Amplification of Both Large and Small RNAs in the Same Extraction. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit isolates the complete size range of RNA, including small RNAs without the use of phenol. Total RNA was isolated from 0.75 million HeLa cells using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit, various silica-based competitors and phenol-based TRI Reagent RT-PCR was performed according to Shi and Chiang (2005). Fifteen microliters of the 50 µL isolated RNA were polyadenylated in a 50 µL Poly-(A)-Polymerase reaction. Four microliters of the polyadenylated RNA were used in a 20 µL reverse transcription reaction with a poly T adaptor primer. One microliter of the reverse transcription was used in a 20 µL qPCR reaction with primers against the human microRNAs (miR-19 and miR-21) and large mRNA (S15). Only the use of Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit resulted in detection of both microRNAs and mRNA amplification products similar to Competitor 2's kit but without the use of phenol. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 3. High Quality of RNA from a Diverse Range of Inputs. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit allows RNA isolation from a wide range of species or tissue types. Total RNA was isolated from 5 × 108 E coli cells, 1 × 106 HeLa cells, 100 µL rat blood and 10 mg hamster kidney using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit. One microliter of the 50 µL isolated RNA was analyzed on the Agilent® 2100 BioAnalyzer using an RNA Nano 6000 chip. Note the integrity of RNA from all inputs with the presence of small RNA species. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit consistently isolates high-quality RNA from various inputs that score a RIN value between 8 and 10. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 4. Great Isolation Sensitivity. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit allows sensitive RNA extraction from as little as a single cell. Total RNA was extracted from a decreasing number of 293 HEK cells from 1 million cells down to a single cell. Five microliters of the 50 µL isolated RNA was then subjected to a 20 µL reverse transcription using oligo dT primer. Three microliters of the reverse transcription was used in a 20 µL PCR reaction with primers to detect the human beta-actin transcripts PCR products of beta-actin were detected from as little as a single cell M is the marker lane. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 5. Linear and Sensitive Isolation of Both Large and Small RNA. Norgen’s Total RNA Purification Kit allows consistent isolation of both large and small RNA from different input amounts. Total RNA was isolated from 10 to 100,000 HeLa cells using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit (blue), a competitor’s silica-based kit (green) and a phenol-based RNA extraction method (red). Relative expression of miR-2 (Panel A), and S15 (Panel B) was determined by RT-qPCR of total RNA samples In brief, one microliter of the 50 µL isolated RNA was then subjected to a 20 µL reverse transcription using miR-21 stem-loop reverse primer or oligo dT primer. Two microliters of the reverse transcription was used in a 20 µL real-time PCR reaction with primers to detect the human miR-21 (Panel A) and the S15 transcripts (Panel B). The resulting threshold cycle (Ct) values were plotted against input cell number RNA isolated using Norgen's Total RNA Purification had the best linearity (higher R2) and sensitivity (lower Ct) for both large RNA (S15) and small RNA (miR-21). Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 6. Effective and Consistent Detection of miRNA from Plasma. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit can effectively isolate miRNA from plasma Total RNA was isolated from 50, 100 or 200 µL of rat plasma in triplicates using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit (blue), a competitor’s silica-based kit (green) and a phenol-based RNA extraction method (red) Stem loop RT-qPCR using primers specific to miR-21 was performed. In brief, two microliters of the 50 µL isolated RNA was then subjected to a 20 µL reverse transcription using miR-21 stem-loop reverse primer or oligo dT primer. Three microliters of the reverse transcription was used in a 20 µL real-time PCR reaction with primers to detect the human miR-21. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit is the only product that showed (1) consistent detection of miR-21 transcripts across all input volumes, and (2) Ct values correlated to input volume (decrease Ct with increase input). Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 7. Recovering Diverse miRNA Species from Plasma with Better Consistency. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit isolates plasma RNA that performs more consistently in downstream applications such as microarrays. Total RNA including miRNA was isolated from 100 µL of mouse plasma in duplicate using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit, Competitor 1's leading miRNA Kit or a phenol-based RNA extraction method. One hundred nanograms of extracted RNA from each kit was applied to an Illumina microRNA expression profiling kit Scatter plots display better consistency (better clustering) of replicate signals from Norgen's samples. Genes with Pval < 0.01 for both replicates were in blue. The associated table suggested that Norgen's protocol recovered the same diversity of miRNA with better consistency (higher r2 value). Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 8. Better Diversity of miRNA Detected from Plasma. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit isolates miRNA from plasma with better diversity than a leading competitor. Total RNA, including miRNA, was isolated from 100 µL of plasma using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit or 625 µL of plasma using Competitor A's leading miRNA Kit and was applied to an NCode expression profiling kit. Microarray images suggested that Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit (left) isolates a better diversity of miRNA from smaller input amount of plasma than the competitor’s miRNA kit (right). Image Credit: LC Sciences, Houston.

Figure 9. Better Diversity of miRNA Detected from HeLa Cells using Illumina Small RNA Next Gen Sequencing. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit isolates miRNA from HeLa cells with better diversity than a leading competitor. Total RNA, including miRNA, was isolated from 1 million HeLa cells using Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit and Competitor Q's leading miRNA Kit and was applied to Illumina Small RNA Next Gen Sequencing on a MiSeq sequencer. Panel A showed that Norgen’s Total RNA Purification Kit recovers a higher number of miRNAs than the competitor. In particular, the higher diversity is achieved with a faster and simpler procedure in as little as 20 minutes of RNA sample preparation time without the use of phenol Panel B is a scatter plot of the average RPM (reads per million) of the miRNAs detected used to compare Norgen and the competitor's kit recovery of miRNA. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit recovered a significantly higher number of miRNAs that have higher RPM, as summarized in the graph insert as well as in Panel C. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 10. Consistent Yield of High-Quality RNA with Complete Size Range without the Use of Phenol. Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit allows for the consistent isolation of high-quality RNA, with complete sizes ranging from very large RNA down to small RNA without the use of phenol Total RNA was isolated from 0.5 mL aliquots of an overnight culture of E coli (~5 × 108 cells/mL) using Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit in 16 replicates. Five microliters of the 75 µL isolated RNA were resolved on a 1.2% formaldehyde agarose gel. All 16 replicates showed both high yield and high quality. In addition, all replicates showed effective recovery of all sizes of RNA, including the small RNA (arrow). Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 11. High Quality of RNA from a Diverse Range of Inputs. Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit allows for RNA isolation from a wide range of species and tissue types. Total RNA was isolated from 8 mg of brain (Lanes A), kidney (Lanes B), liver (Lanes C), lung (Lanes D) and spleen tissue (Lanes E), 7.5 × 105 HeLa (Lanes F) and CHO cells (Lanes G), and 5 × 108 bacteria (Lanes H) using Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit. Five microliters of the 75 µL isolated RNA were resolved on a 1.2% formaldehyde agarose gel. From observing the formaldehyde-agarose gel, it can be seen that Norgen's kit can be used to successfully isolate total RNA, including small RNA species, from a broad range of sample types. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 12. Isolation of Both Large and Small RNA. Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit allows for consistent isolation of both large and small RNA. Total RNA was isolated from samples of 5 × 105 HeLa cells using Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit. Aliquots of each total RNA sample were then used in 2 different RT-qPCR reactions. Ten microliters of the 75 µL isolated RNA were subjected to a 20 µL reverse transcription using miR-21 stem-loop reverse primer or oligo dT. Three microliters of the reverse transcription were used in a 20 µL real-time PCR reaction with primers to detect the human miR-21 (Panel A) and the S15 transcripts (Panel B), respectively. Both the mRNA and microRNA were amplified in a consistent manner from all the samples, with low variability of the Ct values. Thus both types of RNA are being consistently isolated using this kit. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation

Figure 13. Great Isolation Sensitivity. Norgen's Total RNA Purification Kit allows for sensitive RNA extraction from even less than 10 cells RT-qPCR was used to detect mRNA isolated from various input amounts of HeLa cells, from 100,000 down to a single cell, using Norgen's Total RNA Purification 96-Well Kit. Ten microliters of the 75 µL isolated RNA were then subjected to a 20 µL reverse transcription using oligo dT primers. Three microliters of the reverse transcription were used in a 20 µL real-time PCR reaction with primers to detect the human S15 transcripts. The resulting Ct values were plotted against the input cell number Total RNA was isolated and detected linearly from as little as a single HeLa cell. Image Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation
Total RNA Purification Tutorial (Cat. 17200)
Total RNA Purification Tutorial (Cat 17200). Video Credit: Norgen Biotek Corporation
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Spin column
Source: Norgen Biotek Corporation
Kit Specifications |
Maximum Binding Capacity |
Up to 50 μg RNA |
Maximum Loading Volume |
650 μL |
Size of RNA Purified |
All sizes, including small RNA (< 200 nt) |
Maximum Amount of Starting Material |
Animal Cells |
3 x 106 cells |
Animal Tissues |
10 mg (for most tissues*) |
Blood |
100 μL |
Plasma/Serum |
200 μL |
Bacteria |
1 x 109 cells |
Yeast |
1 x 108 cells |
Fungi |
50 mg |
Plant Tissues |
50 mg |
Time to Complete 10 Purifications |
20 minutes |
Average Yield |
HeLa Cells (1 x 106 cells) |
15 μg |
E. coli (1 x 109 cells) |
50 μg |
* for isolating total RNA from larger amounts of tissue, please use Norgen's Animal Tissue RNA Purification Kit (Cat# 25700)
High throughput and High throughput deep well
Source: Norgen Biotek Corporation
Kit Specifications |
Maximum Binding Capacity Per Well |
50 μg |
Maximum Loading Volume Per Well |
500 μL |
Size of RNA Purified |
All sizes, including small RNA < 200 nt |
Maximum Amount of Starting Material |
Animal Cells |
1 x 106 cells |
Animal Tissues |
10 mg |
Blood |
100 μL |
Plasma/Serum |
150 μL |
Bacteria |
1 x 109 cells |
Yeast |
1 x 108 cells |
Fungi |
40 mg |
Plant Tissues |
40 mg |
Time to Complete 96 Purifications |
30 minutes |
Average Yields* |
HeLa Cells (1 x 106 cells) |
15 μg |
E. coli Cells (1 x 109 cells) |
50 μg |
* average yields will vary depending upon a number of factors including species, growth conditions used and developmental stage.
Storage conditions and product stability
Every solution needs to be stored at room temperature and kept tightly sealed. These kits remain stable for two years from the shipment date.
Source: Norgen Biotek Corporation
Component |
Cat. 17200 (50 preps) |
Cat. 37500 (100 preps) |
Cat. 17250 (250 preps) |
Cat. 17270 (500 preps) |
Cat. 24300 (192 preps) |
Cat. 24370 (576 preps) |
Cat. 24350 (192 preps) |
Cat. 24380 (576 preps) |
Cat. 75400 (50 preps) |
Cat. 75500 (192 preps) |
Buffer RL |
40 mL |
2 x 40 mL |
175 mL |
350 mL |
2 x 40 mL |
350 mL |
2 x 40 mL |
350 mL |
70 mL |
4 x 40 mL
1 x 30 mL |
Magnetic Beads C |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2.4 mL |
8.5 mL |
Wash Solution A |
38 mL |
2 x 38 mL |
148 mL |
1 x 148 mL
1 x 74 mL |
2 x 38 mL |
1 x 74 mL
1 x 148 mL |
2 x 38 mL |
1 x 74 mL
1 x 148 mL |
38 mL |
3 x 38 mL |
Elution Solution A |
6 mL |
2 x 6 mL |
30 mL |
60 mL |
2 x 20 mL |
60 mL |
2 x 20 mL |
60 mL |
6 mL |
1 x 30 mL |
Mini Spin Columns |
50 |
100 |
250 |
500 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
96-Well Isolation Plate |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
96-Well Isolation Plate (Deep Well) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
Adhesive Tape |
- |
- |
- |
- |
4 |
12 |
4 |
12 |
- |
2 |
Collection Tubes |
50 |
100 |
250 |
500 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
96-Well Collection Plate |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
96-Well Collection Plate (Deep Well) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
Elution Tubes (1.7 mL) |
50 |
100 |
250 |
500 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
50 |
- |
96-Well Elution Plate |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
96-Well Elution Plate (Deep Well) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
6 |
- |
- |
Product Insert |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |