---
title: "Breakthroughs Made in Extracting RNA from Lung Slices"
url: https://newscentral.site/breakthroughs-made-in-extracting-rna-from-lung-slices/
language: en
publisher: "News Central Site"
section: "Science"
published: 2026-10-26T13:00:01.000Z
updated: 2026-10-27T01:04:52.510Z
id: 5cb2737b-2e6e-4606-b52e-c8efe93fb338
source: "Phys.org https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rna-precision-lung-slices.html"
attribution: "Link to https://newscentral.site/breakthroughs-made-in-extracting-rna-from-lung-slices/ and name News Central Site when you quote or summarize this story."
---

# Breakthroughs Made in Extracting RNA from Lung Slices

Researchers have made significant breakthroughs in extracting RNA from precision-cut lung slices, a crucial tool for studying human lung tissue outside the body.

These slices preserve the complex structures and cell types of living lungs, allowing scientists to investigate how cells interact and respond to various treatments. However, the process of creating these slices involves using agarose, a gel-like substance that can interfere with RNA extraction.

The problem of residual agarose has been a major challenge for researchers, as it can contaminate the samples and lead to inaccurate results. To address this issue, scientists at Yale School of Medicine have developed two innovative approaches to modify the RNA extraction process.

The new methods focus on overcoming the interference caused by agarose, enabling researchers to recover more RNA from precision-cut lung slices while preserving its integrity. This breakthrough has significant implications for studying human lung tissue and understanding how cells respond to different treatments.

The development of these new approaches is expected to greatly enhance our understanding of lung biology and disease. By improving RNA extraction methods, scientists can gain a deeper insight into the complex interactions between cells in the lungs.

Researchers believe that precision-cut lung slices are a valuable tool for studying human lung tissue outside the body, providing a unique opportunity to examine how cells interact and respond to experimental treatments.

Researchers working with precision-cut lung slices have encountered a problem when trying to extract RNA, the molecules crucial for understanding gene expression. The presence of residual agarose from the slicing process can interfere with this extraction process, producing subpar results.

This issue arises because agarose is initially helpful in allowing researchers to cut the lung slices into precise pieces. However, it becomes a hindrance when attempting downstream processes, including RNA extraction. Specifically, conventional methods failed to produce sufficient quantities of RNA or maintained its integrity at acceptable levels.

To address this problem, Rangel considered the biological origins of agarose. As a polysaccharide derived from seaweed, she wondered if tools designed for extracting RNA from plant tissues might be effective for lung samples as well.

Rangel's approach was to leverage her knowledge of biology and exploit any properties of agarose that could aid in extraction. Recognizing that agarose shares similarities with complex carbohydrates found in plant tissues, she opted to use a plant-based kit for RNA extraction.

Meanwhile, associate research scientist Joan Marti-Munoz sought an alternative solution by attempting to remove the agarose before extracting the RNA. By implementing an agarose-dissolving buffer commonly used in gel electrophoresis, both methods resulted in improved RNA recovery, with the dissolution method producing the highest yield and integrity of RNA.

To overcome the challenges associated with extracting RNA from precision-cut lung slices (PCLS), researchers sought a solution to dissolve the agarose gel that holds the tissue together.

The team discovered that a buffer commonly used in gel electrophoresis could effectively break down the agarose, allowing for more efficient RNA extraction. This approach proved particularly effective when combined with other methods of RNA extraction.

One of the key improvements achieved by the researchers was increased reliability in their experiments. Previously, some samples would fail to yield usable RNA, resulting in wasted tissue and lost data.

With the new method, researchers can now confidently plan for a specific number of samples to be extracted for analysis, knowing that they will actually receive intact RNA. This has significant implications for studies involving PCLS.

The ability to obtain high-quality RNA from PCLS opens up new possibilities for sophisticated analyses such as RNA sequencing.

Researchers have made significant progress in extracting high-quality RNA from precision-cut lung slices (PCLS), a crucial tool for studying human respiratory diseases.

The ability to obtain multiple samples from the same individual using PCLS allows researchers to design drugs that work effectively in people. This innovative approach enables scientists to answer complex questions about disease mechanisms and treatment responses more accurately than ever before.

With the introduction of modified RNA extraction methods, researchers can now eliminate agarose impurities from human PCLS, further enhancing their utility.

---
Source: [Phys.org](https://phys.org/news/2026-10-rna-precision-lung-slices.html)  
Published by News Central Site: https://newscentral.site/breakthroughs-made-in-extracting-rna-from-lung-slices/