AquaPreserve™

Preserve and extract DNA, RNA and proteins without crosslinking

AquaPreserve™ is an aqueous solution based preservative with DNA, RNA, and protein extraction functionality. It may be used to streamline biospecimen collection, stabilization, transport, storage, and DNA, RNA, and protein extraction; therefore, it simplifies biospecimen processing, reduces processing heterogeneity, and eliminates artificial pre-analytical changes in a specimen. Both animal and plant tissue specimens and biological fluids, such as whole blood, may be collected in AquaPreserve, shipped and stored at ambient temperatures. DNA and RNA can be then extracted from the preserved biospecimens without using additional extraction kits.

Features

• Preservation and extraction
• Stabilization without crosslinking
• Preservation without freezing

Extracting DNA, RNA, and proteins without using other extraction kits
There is a significant amount of heterogeneity in the methods used to collect, process, store, and extract biospecimens for molecular analyses. Improper handling of biospecimens may artificially introduce molecular changes in the biospecimens, often without the knowledge of the researchers, which in turn can lead to false research findings or wrong diagnoses. By combining biospecimen preservation and biomolecule extraction with AquaPreserve™, it may be possible to standardize and streamline the entire pre-analytical biospecimen workflow, from biospecimen collection, stabilization, transport, storage, to biomolecule extraction, and thus, prevent or reduce artificially introduced variability in a biospecimen.

Formalin is the most commonly used preservative for stabilizing biospecimens. However, it causes significant damages to the biomolecules by crosslinking DNA, RNA, and proteins in the preserved tissues and could compromise downstream molecular analyses. AquaPreserve™ stabilizes biospecimen by inactivating degradative enzymes without causing biomolecule crosslinking.
Freezing is the gold standard for biospecimen preservation. However, frozen storage requires significant investments not only in space and sophisticated storage and monitoring systems but also in on-going expenses from the high energy and staff costs. Although it is still ongoing to determine how long a biospecimen may be stored in AquaPreserve at ambient temperatures, the inconvenient snap freezing and dry ice shipment can be eliminated by the use of AquaPreserve™.

With AquaPreserve™, you don't need to worry about which kits to use for DNA, RNA, and protein extraction. They can all be accomplished with this single solution. Simply homogenize the specimen in AquaPreserve™ to extract DNA, RNA, and proteins, and then precipitate the DNA/RNA with isopropanol and precipitate the proteins with acetone. It would not only save processing time, labor, and money, but most importantly also prevent pre-analytical variables from using different extraction kits

Fig.: Gross anatomy of liver tissues preserved in AquaPreserve™ and PBS. Fresh mouse liver tissues (~100 mg) were submerged in 0.2 ml AquaPreserve™ (left) or PBS (right) and stored at 22°C for 7 days. As seen, liver tissues preserved in AquaPreserve™ looked fresh, remained intact, and wedged in the tube, while liver tissues stored in PBS became highly degraded and sank to the bottom of the tube.