RNA Purification by Preparative Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis

Preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) is a powerful tool for purifying RNA samples. Denaturing PAGE allows separation of nucleic acids that differ by a single nucleotide in length. It is commonly used to separate and purify RNA species after in vitro transcription, to purify naturally occurring RNA variants such as tRNAs, to remove degradation products, and to purify labeled RNA species. To preserve RNA integrity following purification, RNA is usually visualized by UV shadowing or stained with ethidium bromide or SYBR green dyes.