Introduction

The invention, based on the Smartflare^TM detection probe technology for the analysis of intracellular RNA expression on single living cell, allows to overcome the limits imposed by short half-life cell, thus leading to an efficient tagging of platelet RNA and cells with short half-life in vitro.

Technical features

This method allows to improve the Smartflare technology for the analysis and detection of RNA on living cells. Since platelets, like other cells such as, monocytes, lymphocytes, granulocytes, have a short half-life, they cannot be  maintained in vitro for a long time (for about 16 hours), making the Smartflare unsuitable. The invention presented, consists in a variation of the commercially available method, allowing to tag platelet RNA and cells with short half-life in vitro in order to overcome the limits imposed by the characteristics of the platelets themselves.

 

Possible Applications

• Basic research: characterisation of platelet subpopulation with different functions (haemostatic, inflammatory, angiogenic etc..);
• Complete analysis of mRNA expression in platelet activation;
• Translational research: tumoral biomarker (i.e. tumor-educated platelets).

Advantages

• Suitable for living cells taken from a small amount of blood;
• Simple and fast solution with one step of incubation.