MicroRNAs: Commercial Products on the Horizon

Author: Ricki Lewis, PhD

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. State of the Science
1.2. Why Did MicroRNAs Escape Notice?
1.3. The Discovery of MicroRNAs
  Enter RNA Interference
  The Initial Papers
  Defining and Describing MicroRNAs
     Criteria
     Genomic Addresses
     Abundance and Diversity
1.4. Mechanisms and Targets
  MicroRNAs in Plants and Animals
  From Precursor to Mature MicroRNA
  Targets
1.5. MicroRNA Sequence Variation
1.6. Evolutionary Significance
1.7. Analysis

Chapter 2
THE TECHNOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
2.1.  Collecting and Profiling MicroRNAs
  The Workflow: Isolate, Enrich, Detect, Quantify, and Analyze
  Arrays and Assays
  Customized Microarrays
2.2. Inhibiting MicroRNAs
  Locked Nucleic Acid Modified Antisense Oligonucleotides
  Morpholinos
  Antagomirs
  MicroRNA Sponges
2.3. Databases and Computational Tools
  MiRBase
  Computational Tools (In Silico Predictions)

Chapter 3
CLINICAL APPLICATIONS
3.1. Oncology
  Onco-miRs and Tumor-Suppressor MicroRNAs
  let-7 Led the Way
  Further Evidence Linking MicroRNAs to Cancer
  Clinical Applications of MicroRNAs in Cancer
     Diagnosis
     Therapeutics
3.2. Infectious Disease
  Cytomegalovirus (CMV)
  Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
3.3. Neurological Disease
3.4. Cardiovascular Disease

Chapter 4
BASIC RESEARCH
4.1. Differentiation and Development
  MicroRNA Control in Embryos
  Role of MicroRNAs in Aging
4.2. Evolution

Chapter 5
COMMERCIAL OUTLOOK
5.1. Promises and Caveats
5.2. Commercialization
  Companies Devoted Exclusively to MicroRNAs
  RNAi Companies Developing MicroRNAs
  Spinouts from 1 or More Companies
  Big Pharma
  Traditional Suppliers of Reagents and Kits
5.3. Patent and Intellectual Property Issues
  Recent MicroRNA Patents
  The RNAi Legacy
5.4. The Future

Chapter 6
EXPERT INTERVIEWS
Christoper Adams, PhD, Research Area Manager, Research & Development/Epigenetics, Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA
Dalia Cohen, PhD, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Research and Development, Rosetta Genomics, Rehovot, Israel and North Brunswick, NJ
Iain Russell, PhD, Product Manager, TaqMan MicroRNA Assays, Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA
Frank Slack, PhD, Associate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Phillip D. Zamore, PhD, Gretchen Stone Cook Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Chapter 7
SELECTED COMPANY PROFILES
Agilent Technologies
Asuragen
Cepheid and Actigenics-Cepheid
Dharmacon Products (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific)
Exiqon
Invitrogen
Luminex
QIAGEN
Regulus Therapeutics
Rosetta Genomics
Santaris Pharma

Appendix
INSIGHT PHARMA REPORTS MicroRNA SURVEY—DECEMBER 2007

Glossary
References
Company Index with Web Addresses