Regeneration of total RNA purification silica-based columns

Silica-based columns are largely used in RNA purification, allowing fast extractions and good yields of high quality nucleic acid, but their major limitation is the high cost. The reuse of such columns, although desirable, is not recommended because of residual amounts of material from the previous sample trapped in the column matrix, which might be released during further purification. Thus, recycling does need previous complete removal of any detectable RNA trace, but to date no protocol which allows decontamination and reuse is available.We report a very rapid decontamination procedure, based on treatment with warm alkaline solution containing Triton X-100, which ensures no RNA carry-over, and allows the recycling of columns without impairment of their efficiency in high-quality RNA purification even after several regeneration rounds.