Multiplexed, single-molecule, epigenetic analysis of plasma-isolated nucleosomes for cancer diagnostics

  • Vadim Fedyuk
  • , Nir Erez
  • , Noa Furth
  • , Olga Beresh
  • , Ekaterina Andreishcheva
  • , Abhijeet Shinde
  • , Daniel Jones
  • , Barak Bar Zakai
  • , Yael Mavor
  • , Tamar Peretz
  • , Ayala Hubert
  • , Jonathan E. Cohen
  • , Azzam Salah
  • , Mark Temper
  • , Albert Grinshpun
  • , Myriam Maoz
  • , Aviad Zick
  • , Guy Ron
  • , Efrat Shema*
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

60 Scopus citations

Abstract

The analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in plasma provides information on pathological processes in the body. Blood cfDNA is in the form of nucleosomes, which maintain their tissue- and cancer-specific epigenetic state. We developed a single-molecule multiparametric assay to comprehensively profile the epigenetics of plasma-isolated nucleosomes (EPINUC), DNA methylation and cancer-specific protein biomarkers. Our system allows for high-resolution detection of six active and repressive histone modifications and their ratios and combinatorial patterns on millions of individual nucleosomes by single-molecule imaging. In addition, our system provides sensitive and quantitative data on plasma proteins, including detection of non-secreted tumor-specific proteins, such as mutant p53. EPINUC analysis of a cohort of 63 colorectal cancer, 10 pancreatic cancer and 33 healthy plasma samples detected cancer with high accuracy and sensitivity, even at early stages. Finally, combining EPINUC with direct single-molecule DNA sequencing revealed the tissue of origin of colorectal, pancreatic, lung and breast tumors. EPINUC provides multilayered information of potential clinical relevance from limited (<1 ml) liquid biopsy material.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)212-221
Number of pages10
JournalNature Biotechnology
Volume41
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Multiplexed, single-molecule, epigenetic analysis of plasma-isolated nucleosomes for cancer diagnostics'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this