5′/3′ RACE Kit, 2nd Generation

Uses

5′/3′ RACE Kit, 2nd Generation is suitable for

• Structural and expression studies of RNA molecules
• Generating full-length cDNAs
• Isolation and characterization of 5′ or 3′ ends from low-copy RNA messages
• first strand cDNA synthesis
• Amplification and further cloning of rare mRNAs
• Use in conjunction with exon-trapping methods
• Products of the RACE reaction can be directly sequenced without cloning

General Description

Rapid Amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) is a prevalent technique used to rapidly obtain full-length cDNA from partially known sequences. The 5′/3′ RACE kit contains Transcriptor Reverse Transcriptase and recombinant Terminal Transferase. Transcriptor Reverse Transcriptase transcribes full-length cDNA for the highly sensitive and rapid amplification of either 5′ or 3′ cDNA fragments up to 14 kb. Due to its thermostability (up to +65 °C), it can work with GC-rich templates with high secondary structure. High sensitivity can be achieved using Transcriptor Reverse Transcriptase, resulting in highly efficient cDNA synthesis and the generation of long RACE products. Recombinant Terminal transferase is used to add a homopolymeric A-tail to the 3′ end of the cDNA. The poly(A)⁺ tail decreases the likelihood of inappropriate truncation by the oligo(dT)-anchor primer, and overcomes the weaker A/T compared to the G/C hybridization. Moreover, longer stretches of A residues are required before the oligo(dT)-anchor primer can hybridize to an internal site and can truncate the amplification product. Tailed cDNA is amplified by PCR using a gene-specific primer and the oligo(dT)-anchor primer. The obtained cDNA is further amplified by a second PCR using a nested specific primer and the PCR-anchor primer, allowing RACE products to be cloned into an appropriate vector for subsequent studies.