Total cellular RNA provides a poor template for studying short-term changes in RNA synthesis and decay as well as the kinetics of RNA processing. Here, we describe metabolic labeling of newly transcribed RNA with 4-thiouridine followed by thiol-specific biotinylation and purification of newly transcribed RNA allowing to overcome these limitations.
Rädle, B., Rutkowski, A. J., Ruzsics, Z., Friedel, C. C., Koszinowski, U. H., Dölken, L. Metabolic Labeling of Newly Transcribed RNA for High Resolution Gene Expression Profiling of RNA Synthesis, Processing and Decay in Cell Culture. J. Vis. Exp. (78), e50195, doi:10.3791/50195 (2013).