Performing the Labeled microRNA pull-down (LAMP) assay system: an experimental approach for high-throughput identification of microRNA-target mRNAs.

We developed a simple, direct, and cost-effective approach to search for the most likely target genes of a known miRNA in vitro. We term this method "Labeled microRNA (miRNA) pull-down assay system," or LAMP. Briefly, the pre-miRNA is labeled with digoxigenin (DIG), mixed with cell extracts, and immunoprecipitated by anti-DIG antiserum. We concluded that LAMP is an experimental approach for high-throughput identification of the target gene of known miRNAs from both Caenorhabditis elegans and zebrafish (Danio rerio), yielding fewer false-positive results than those produced by using only the bioinformatics approach.