Ambion MagMax-96. Any experiences? - What are your experiences with MagMax-96? Any tips? (Dec/17/2009 )

Thought I'd start a topic on the Ambion MagMax-96 product range as I am sure some people here have used it.

MagMax-96 is a magnetic bead-based kit used to isolate RNA in a high-througput manner on a 96-well plate. The kit comes in many versions. I use the MagMax-96 Total RNA Isolation kit with the basic magnetic stand.

My own experiences have been decent. My RNA has always come out resonably pure and the yield is acceptable. The manual doesn't tell it all though unfortunately. Some tips not directly mentioned in the manual:
1. You need a plate shaker with a high rpm (~1000rpm) .
2. The shaker alone won't resuspend the beads after pelleting on the magnetic stand. You will need to resuspend by pipetting before shaking the plate. This makes procedure time longer than you think.
3. The drying step is essential for good results (ie high yield, good 260/230 ratio). Don't use a lid for this step. The beads can't be too dry either, or it'll affect your yield. It's a bit of guess work is necessary.
4. You will be horsing through your pipette tips.

If you have any other tips or experiences (e.g. is the magnetic ring stand better?), please let us know

One more tip which is not mentioned in the official manual, but is confirmed by Ambion:

After the lysis step the lysate can be stored at -20C for a few weeks. This is similar to most nucleic acid isolation kits.

Hi,

Thanks for the tips!

I have just used this kit for the first time. My yields were not great and my 260/230 was dreadful. I suspect it is because I am not shaking the plate at a high enough RPM (I am using a vortexer adapter, max speed 800).