RNA Informatics, Technologies, and Therapies Core (RITTC)
RNA translation is a fundamental process in gene expression, yet tools for studying translation dynamics at scale have remained limited to a few specialized laboratories. Ribosome profiling (Ribo-seq) enables genome-wide measurement of translation by sequencing ribosome-protected mRNA fragments, revealing which mRNAs are being translated, at what rate, and where ribosomes pause or stall. Transfer RNA (tRNA) sequencing via nanopore direct RNA sequencing provides complementary information about tRNA charging, modifications, and abundance — key determinants of translation efficiency and fidelity.
Despite growing demand for these technologies, there are no shared resources on the Anschutz Medical Campus — or in the Rocky Mountain region — that offer ribosome profiling or nanopore tRNA sequencing as a service. Investigators who wish to apply these methods must either develop the expertise in-house (a significant barrier) or send samples to distant facilities with long turnaround times.
The RNA Informatics, Technologies, and Therapies Core (RITTC) will address this gap by providing a centralized, expert-operated facility for ribosome profiling, nanopore tRNA sequencing, and associated bioinformatics analysis. This new shared resource is a logical extension of the RNA Bioscience Initiative (RBI), which has funded pilot awards for these technologies and demonstrated strong investigator demand. During the course of providing RBI-funded pilot support, we were forced to turn away many investigators who hoped to apply these tools in their research but could not find existing shared resources to meet their needs.
RITTC will operate as an internal service center under University policy, recovering costs through user fees charged to investigator speedtypes. By consolidating specialized expertise and reagent purchasing, the facility will provide these services at lower cost and higher quality than individual labs could achieve independently.
Despite growing demand for these technologies, there are no shared resources on the Anschutz Medical Campus — or in the Rocky Mountain region — that offer ribosome profiling or nanopore tRNA sequencing as a service. Investigators who wish to apply these methods must either develop the expertise in-house (a significant barrier) or send samples to distant facilities with long turnaround times.
The RNA Informatics, Technologies, and Therapies Core (RITTC) will address this gap by providing a centralized, expert-operated facility for ribosome profiling, nanopore tRNA sequencing, and associated bioinformatics analysis. This new shared resource is a logical extension of the RNA Bioscience Initiative (RBI), which has funded pilot awards for these technologies and demonstrated strong investigator demand. During the course of providing RBI-funded pilot support, we were forced to turn away many investigators who hoped to apply these tools in their research but could not find existing shared resources to meet their needs.
RITTC will operate as an internal service center under University policy, recovering costs through user fees charged to investigator speedtypes. By consolidating specialized expertise and reagent purchasing, the facility will provide these services at lower cost and higher quality than individual labs could achieve independently.
Services Offered:
A. Ribosome Profiling (Ribo-seq) — Full-service ribosome profiling including cell lysis, nuclease digestion, ribosome-protected fragment isolation, library preparation (including rRNA depletion), Illumina sequencing, and matched input RNA-seq. This service produces publication-ready data on translation dynamics across the transcriptome.
B. Nanopore tRNA Sequencing — tRNA isolation, chemical and enzymatic adapter ligation, and direct RNA sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore PromethION platform. This service enables detection of tRNA modifications, charging levels, and isodecoder abundance without PCR amplification bias.
C. Nanopore Direct mRNA Sequencing — Direct mRNA sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore PromethION platform for full-length transcript analysis, enabling detection of RNA modifications, poly(A) tail lengths, and isoform-level quantification without reverse transcription or PCR amplification.
D. Informatics — Ribosome Profiling — Bioinformatics analysis of Ribo-seq data including read alignment, quality assessment, P-site assignment, differential translation analysis, and codon-level resolution of ribosome occupancy.
E. Informatics — RNA-seq — Bioinformatics analysis of nanopore tRNA sequencing and direct RNA sequencing data including basecalling, alignment, modification detection, and quantification of RNA features across both assays.
F. Informatics — Analyst Flex Time — Flexible bioinformatics consulting for custom analysis beyond standard pipelines, billed in hourly increments.
G. Consultant Time — Per-experiment consultation covering study design, protocol optimization, and results interpretation for RNA-related experiments.