@article {Hulstaert823369, author = {Eva Hulstaert and Annelien Morlion and Francisco Avila Cobos and Kimberly Verniers and Justine Nuytens and Eveline Vanden Eynde and Nurten Yigit and Jasper Anckaert and Anja Geerts and Pieter Hindryckx and Peggy Jacques and Guy Brusselle and Ken R. Bracke and Tania Maes and Thomas Malfait and Thierry Derveaux and Virginie Ninclaus and Caroline Van Cauwenbergh and Kristien Roelens and Ellen Roets and Dimitri Hemelsoet and Kelly Tilleman and Lieve Brochez and Scott Kuersten and Lukas Simon and Sebastian Karg and Alexandra Kautzky-Willers and Michael Leutner and Christa N{\"o}hammer and Ondrej Slaby and Gary P. Schroth and Jo Vandesompele and Pieter Mestdagh}, title = {Charting extracellular transcriptomes in The Human Biofluid RNA Atlas}, elocation-id = {823369}, year = {2019}, doi = {10.1101/823369}, publisher = {Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory}, abstract = {Extracellular RNAs present in biofluids have emerged as potential biomarkers for disease. Where most studies focus on plasma or serum, other biofluids may contain more informative RNA molecules, depending on the type of disease. Here, we present an unprecedented atlas of messenger, circular and small RNA transcriptomes of a comprehensive collection of 20 different human biofluids. By means of synthetic spike-in controls, we compared RNA content across biofluids, revealing a more than 10 000-fold difference in RNA concentration. The circular RNA fraction is increased in nearly all biofluids compared to tissues. Each biofluid transcriptome is enriched for RNA molecules derived from specific tissues and cell types. In addition, a subset of biofluids, including stool, sweat, saliva and sputum, contains high levels of bacterial RNAs. Our atlas enables a more informed selection of the most relevant biofluid to monitor particular diseases. To verify the biomarker potential in these biofluids, four validation cohorts representing a broad spectrum of diseases were profiled, revealing numerous differential RNAs between case and control subjects. Taken together, our results reveal novel insights in the RNA content of human biofluids and may serve as a valuable resource for future biomarker studies.}, URL = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/05/823369}, eprint = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/11/05/823369.full.pdf}, journal = {bioRxiv} }