MagMAX™ FFPE DNA/RNA Ultra Kit

There are a number of factors that can impact the overall quality and yield of DNA isolated from FFPE tissues. Here are recommendations to address several key factors:

- Upstream tissue procurement and tissue specimen preparation - if possible, tissues should be fixed within one hour of surgical resection. The optimal fixation time is 12-24 hours using neutral-buffered formalin or paraformaldehyde. Fixed tissues should be thoroughly dehydrated prior to the embedding process.
- Block storage - storage of blocks without cut faces, when possible, prevents ongoing damage from exposure to atmospheric oxygen, water, and other environmental factors such as light and infestation (fungi, insects, etc.).
- Tissue type, size, and amount being used for DNA isolation - the recommended tissue thickness is 10-20 µm. The number of sections used is determined by the tissue type (which impacts cell density) and surface area (recommended size: 50-300 mm^2). Excess starting material can cause filter clogging, resulting in poor yield.
- Excessive amount of paraffin used for embedding tissues - when possible, excess paraffin should be trimmed away prior to starting the purification protocol. For xylene-based purification methods, two xylene treatments at room temperature should be sufficient for complete deparaffinization. If desired, a more rigorous 37-55 degrees C treatment can be performed for up to 30 minutes. After the xylene deparaffinization, it is crucial that the 100% ethanol is completely removed and the pellets are dry after the two 100% ethanol washes. The magnetic bead method employs novel chemistries to deal with the paraffin that limits input to 20 µm sections.

Read more about extraction of nucleic acids from FFPE samples here (http://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/references/Invitrogen-tech-support/rna-isolation/general-articles/extraction-of-nucleic-acids-from-ffpe-samples.html).

We offer 2 kits: RecoverAll Total Nucleic Acid Isolation Kit for FFPE and MagMAX FFPE DNA/RNA Ultra Kit Read more about the differences between these kits here (http://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/life-science/dna-rna-purification-analysis/dna-extraction/genomic-dna-extraction/dna-extractions-working-with-ffpe-samples.html).

There is no specific upper limit to curl size for use with the MagMAX FFPE DNA/RNA Ultra kit (Cat. No. A31881). If all of the tissue is able to be submerged in the 200 µL of buffer, then the large volume of protocol should work. Please keep in mind when processing sections that are thicker than 40 µm, additional digestion buffer, binding solution, and wash buffer, may need to be purchased separately (Cat. No. A32796).

No. The AutoLys M tubes don't fit in a standard 1.5 mL or 2.0 mL heat block. We recommend incubating the tubes in the tube racks in an incubator or oven.

Any centrifuge with plate adapters will work. The AutoLys M Tube Racks fit nicely into those adapters.