Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27503761›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2016

Fetal Bovine Serum RNA Interferes with the Cell Culture derived Extracellular RNA.

Zhiyun Wei, Arsen O Batagov, David R F Carter, Anna M Krichevsky

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 93 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
93citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

93 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Guideline
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  6. Beyond the Bubble: A Debate on microRNA Sorting Into Extracellular Vesicles.Laboratory investigation; a journal of technical methods and pathology · 2025
    Review
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  11. Review
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33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Zhiyun WeiDepartment of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
Arsen O BatagovGenome and Gene Expression Data Analysis Division, Bioinformatics Institute, Singapore 138671, Singapore.
David R F CarterDepartment of Biological and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
Anna M KrichevskyDepartment of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.

Funding

Transfer of microRNA regulators from glioblastoma to brain microenvironment U19CA179563 · NCI · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI BREAKEFIELD, XANDRA OWENS, CHAREST, ALAIN · 2013 to 2017
$8.6M
NCI NIH HHS U19 CA179563
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) has been used in eukaryotic cell cultures for decades. However, little attention has been paid to the biological effects associated with RNA content of FBS on cell cultures. Here, using RNA sequencing, we demonstrate that FBS contains a diverse repertoire of protein-coding and regulatory RNA species, including mRNA, miRNA, rRNA, and snoRNA. The majority of them (>70%) are retained even after extended ultracentrifugation in the preparations of vesicle-depleted FBS (vdFBS) commonly utilized in the studies of extracellular vesicles (EV) and intercellular communication. FBS-associated RNA is co-isolated with cell-culture derived extracellular RNA (exRNA) and interferes with the downstream RNA analysis. Many evolutionally conserved FBS-derived RNA species can be falsely annotated as human or mouse transcripts. Notably, specific miRNAs abundant in FBS, such as miR-122, miR-451a and miR-1246, have been previously reported as enriched in cell-culture derived EVs, possibly due to the confounding effect of the FBS. Analysis of publically available exRNA datasets supports the notion of FBS contamination. Furthermore, FBS transcripts can be taken up by cultured cells and affect the results of highly sensitive gene expression profiling technologies. Therefore, precautions for experimental design are warranted to minimize the interference and misinterpretations caused by FBS-derived RNA.

Indexed as

MicroRNAsAnimalsCattleCell-Derived MicroparticlesCell Line, TumorHumansMiceRAW 264.7 CellsSerumMicroRNAs

Identifiers

PMID27503761
PMCPMC4977539

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.