Figure 5.

Determination of RNA quality by micro-electrophoresis. For standardized RNA quality control, 1 μL of total extracted RNA was added to each well in a twelve-well microfluidic chip. The wells were filled with gel containing an intercalating dye that allows RNA detection by a laser-induced fluorescence method. The results were then visualized as gel-like tracks and electropherograms (Y-axis: Fluorescence intensity and X-axis: Molecular weight or Time). (A) RNA from total pancreatic fraction was of poor quality, as electropherogram showed an elevated baseline (above the green line) and the gel-like track revealed the presence of a smear and low 28S rRNA band intensity. (B–D) The quality of RNA from sorted acinar and ductal fractions was significantly higher compared to total pancreas fraction. Indeed, electropherograms were tangent to the green line and the gel-like tracks appear to be smear-free.