(102e) Polyvinyl Sulfonic Acid: A Low-Cost RNase Inhibitor for Enhanced RNA Preservation and Retained Function

RNA is a central molecule of life and is being used for many applications including medical diagnostics, protein engineering, and therapeutics against debilitating diseases such as cancer, ALS, and HIV. However, RNA is fundamentally limited by the ubiquitous presence of ribonucleases (RNases) that rapidly degrade RNA. RNA is challenging to work with as it requires special ventilation systems, specific supplies, and continuous treatment to prevent RNase activity. As humans, we constantly excrete RNases, which makes working with RNA particularly difficult.

Here we present work to overcome the challenges of RNA degradation in an economical way with polyvinyl sulfonic acid (PVSA). We demonstrate that PVSA is an RNase inhibitor that inhibits not only the common RNase A, but is also effective in Escherichia coli lysate, which is rich in diverse RNases. PVSA was shown to improve the integrity of mRNA transcripts by more than 5-fold as measured by their translational viability. We also demonstrate the ability to remove PVSA rapidly and economically using alcohol precipitation.

Most importantly, PVSA is less than 0.06% the cost of commonly used ribonuclease inhibitors. Using ribonuclease inhibitors is typically essential for working with RNA and is the largest reagent cost (commonly more than 95%) in RNA production and storage. As reported here, PVSA greatly reduces the cost of RNA production. PVSA could also reduce the need for special equipment and supplies making RNA applications more accessible to researchers and more economical for consumers.