Quantitative Analysis of Precursors MicroRNAs and Their Respective Mature MicroRNAs in Cancer Exosomes Overtime.

Exosomes are a cell-to-cell communication system that transports information to neighbor and/or distant cells. Their content is composed of lipids, proteins, RNAs, and DNA. The role of exosomes released by cancer cells in disease progression has been widely studied. Here, we report a detailed protocol to quantify precursor microRNAs and mature microRNAs overtime in exosomes of cancer cells. Those precursor microRNAs that are packaged together with RISC proteins will get further processed in the exosomes overtime and an accumulation of the mature form of the microRNAs will occur.