Over the last 20 years, numerous outbreaks of infectious agents such as Ebola, influenza, Zika, and novel coronaviruses (SARS, MERS, COVID-19) have caused global economic disruption and strained public health resources.
Understanding the host cell response to a pathogen can include large-scale -omics and discovery approaches, targeted identification of important cells and proteins involved in the immune response—all beginning with optimized preparation of your starting sample.
Starting with sample preparation
Analysis of viruses in biological and environmental samples requires efficient methods for viral nucleic acids that are amenable to a variety of sample types. Viral nucleic acids may need to be isolated from saliva, blood, tissue, and even wastewater or stool samples. Each sample type has unique requirements for optimal nucleic acid extraction and isolation.
The two most common viral nucleic acid isolation technologies are magnetic beads and silica (glass) fiber filters. Both work by taking advantage of their different affinity for nucleic acids based on the concentration of chaotropic salts in the buffer, binding in high-salt buffers and eluting in low-salt buffers.
Thermo Fisher Scientific offers comprehensive sample preparation solutions for various applications from epidemiological surveillance to pathogen detection and analysis solutions. Easily extract DNA or RNA from your viral/pathogen sample, tailored to your sample type and throughput needs.
Protocols for immunology
Apply the background information provided throughout this resource center with practical and relevant application protocols. Browse by application or technique:
Cell preparation and immune cell stimulation
Find detailed protocols on the isolation of the different immune cells starting from whole blood or lymphoid tissue and various methods to stimulate them.
Sample preparation
Protocols covering isolation of RNA from immune cells to sample preparation for immunoassays.
Selection guide: Viral DNA/RNA extraction
Viral nucleic extraction kits from Thermo Fisher Scientific are optimized to provide maximum viral DNA/RNA yield, purity, and integrity from a broad range of sample types. Choose the kit that best suits your research needs:
| Best for | Recovery of low abundance viral DNA/RNA | High quality DNA/RNA from liquid samples | Automated extraction of viral DNA/RNA from liquid samples | Automated extraction of DNA/RNA from range of biological sample types | DNA/RNA extraction from difficult to lyse samples |
| Product | PureLink Viral RNA/DNA Mini Kit
| GeneJet Viral DNA/RNA Purification Kit
| PureLink Pro 96 Viral RNA/DNA Purification Kit
| MagMAX Prime Viral/ Pathogen NA Isolation Kit
| MagMAX Microbiome Ultra Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit
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| Cat. No. | 12280050 | K0821 | 12280096A | A58145 | A42357 |
| Starting volume | 500 µL | 200–400 µL | 200 µL | 200–400 µL | 200–500 µL or 100–250 mg |
| Sample types | Cell-free plasma, serum, cerebrospinal fluid | Plasma, serum, nasal swab, buccal swab, saliva, urine | Cell-free plasma, serum, cerebrospinal fluid | Swabs in transport media (respiratory, genital and lesion swabs), saliva, stool, urine, plasma and serum | Stool, swabs, transport media, culture media, urine, wastewater, soil |
| Isolation technology & format | Silica spin column | Silica spin column | Silica membrane 96-well microplate | Magnetic beads/deep-well plate | Magnetic beads/multiwell plate |
| Protocol time | 45 mins | 30–60 mins | 30 mins | 30–60 mins (automated) | ~60 mins |
| Sample elution volume | 10–50 µL | 50 µL | 50–150 µL | 60 µL | 50–200 μL |
| Automation compatible | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Number of preps | 50 | 50 | 384 | 600 | 100 |
| Downstream applications | (RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting | (RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting | (RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, northern blotting | (RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, NGS | (RT)-PCR, (RT)-qPCR, NGS |
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Brand offerings:
 | Helpful tipIf you are not ready to process your RNA sample, simply store it in Invitrogen RNAlater Stabilization Solution for use at a later time. Visit thermofisher.com/stabilizerna |
| Capabilities | Process a large amount of tissue | Fast isolation of RNA from a variety of samples | High-throughput purification of RNA and DNA | Process cells for gene expression |
Kits
| TRIzol reagents
| PureLink kits
| MagMAX kits
| Cells-to-CT kits |
| Prep time | 30–60 mins | <20 mins | 45 mins | ≤10 mins |
| Sample types | Most samples, particularly those more difficult to lyse | Bacteria, liquid, blood, cells, yeast, plants, tissue | Blood, plants, saliva, urine, stool, soil, plasma, serum | Cultured cells |
| Starting material | 100 mg of tissue or 107 cells | 108 cells, 200 mg of tissue, 250 mg of plant tissue, 0.2 mL of blood, 5 x 108 yeast, 109 bacteria | Variable depending on sample | 1–100,000 cells |
| Yield | 106 epithelial cells: 8–15 μg 100 mg tobacco leaf: 73 μg (Variable depending on sample) | Up to 350 µg | Variable depending on sample | N/A |
| High-throughput compatible | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Technology | Organic extraction | Silica membrane spin column/filter plate | Magnetic beads | Crude lysate |
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For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.