Method for Capturing RNA In Situ Structures and Interactions

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Biotech (C12N)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted a patent (US12584160B2) for a method of capturing RNA in situ higher-order structures and interactions. The method involves specific labeling and purification steps to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of RNA interaction analysis.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12584160B2, titled "Method for capturing RNA in situ higher-order structures and interactions." The patent, assigned to the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, details a novel technique for analyzing RNA structures and interactions within cells or tissues. Key steps include protein-mediated RNA-RNA interaction fixation, membrane permeabilization, specific RNA labeling with pCp-biotin, proximal ligation, purification of chimeric RNA, strand-specific library construction, and high-throughput sequencing.

This patent describes a method that aims to capture RNA interactions in a physiological state without destroying cell structure. The described labeling and enrichment process is intended to increase the fraction of effective sequencing data and reduce costs. While this is a patent grant and not a regulatory rule, it may inform future research and development practices in biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors, potentially influencing laboratory protocols and the development of new diagnostic or therapeutic tools.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Method for capturing RNA in situ higher-order structures and interactions

Grant US12584160B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Inventors

Yuanchao Xue, Zhaokui Cai, Changchang Cao

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method for capturing an RNA in situ higher-order structure and interaction. The method includes: fixing protein-mediated RNA-RNA interaction in cell or tissue; performing membrane permeabilization while keeping the cell intact; degrading free RNA; labeling the 3′ end of the RNA with pCp-biotin and performing proximal ligation in situ; purifying the chimeric RNA containing the pCp-biotin after the cell is digested; constructing the strand-specific library; and performing high-throughput sequencing. In the present invention, under the condition of not destroying the cell structure and keeping the integrity of cell, treat the intracellular RNA in situ, and capture RNA intra- and intermolecular interactions in a physiological state; the 3′ end of the RNA is labeled with the pCp-biotin, and in situ ligation is performed under non-denaturing conditions, thereby greatly improving the labeling efficiency and reducing intermolecular specific ligation; and the chimeric RNA labeled with C-biotin is enriched by C1 magnetic beads, so that the fraction of effective sequencing data is increased, and the sequencing cost is reduced.