Purification of radiolabeled RNA products using denaturing gel electrophoresis

This unit discusses a basic method for purification of radiolabeled RNAs using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The method consists of a number of experimental procedures, including total RNA preparation from yeast cells, isolation of a specific RNA from total yeast RNA, RNA 3'-terminal labeling using nucleotide (5' [(32) P]pCp) addition (via ligation), denaturing (8 M urea) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and RNA extraction from the gel slice. Key points for achieving good electrophoretic separation of RNA are also discussed.