RNA extraction from polysaccharide-based cell-laden hydrogel scaffolds

An effective method for obtaining high-quality RNA from polysaccharide-rich hydrogels would be of great interest to biomaterialists and tissue engineers. Based on the similarities between polysaccharide-based hydrogels and plant tissues, we used a plant-specific RNA extraction kit to extract RNA from mammalian cells encapsulated in hydrogel scaffolds. The results indicate that this method can be reliably used in isolating high-purity RNA from polysaccharide hydrogels. (c) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.