New method for immunoassay using blood DNA

Norris Cotton Cancer Center (NCCC) researchers, in collaboration with the Brown University School of Public Health, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), have introduced a new immunoassay method that uses only blood Rather than DNA from fresh cell samples, specific immune cell types can be reported
.

Their method, "Enhancing Peripheral Blood Cell Deconvolution for High-Resolution Immune Mapping Using DNA Methylation," was recently published in the journal Nature Communications

"Our technique requires minimal investment to use blood DNA samples stored under different conditions," said the study's lead author, Lucas A.
Salas, Ph.
D.
, a member of the NCCC Cancer Population Science Research Program (CPS) and Dartmouth Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Geisel School of Medicine
.

"This is ideal in population epidemiological studies and may also be applicable in clinical settings where samples cannot be processed immediately

"Our paper details a new method that provides a powerful alternative to traditional flow cytometry based on blood DNA rather than intact living cells," added co-author John Wiencke of the UCSF Institute for Human Genetics.

.

This new method offers an opportunity to ask and answer questions about the immune system in health and disease, using the millions of blood samples stored in biobanks in the U.
S.
and around the world that already exist for other reasons
.

In the clinical setting, complete blood count (CBC) differentiation is often used to diagnose a patient's condition and is limited to five general immune cell types

Large-scale population studies and clinical trials can now obtain detailed information on an individual's immune status in a standardized, cost-effective manner without some of the limitations of existing methods
.

This advance lays the foundation for new studies of systemic immune factors in disease and aging

When the method was applied to cancer patients, the immune profile responses to chemotherapy and radiation were observed
.

Corresponding author Brock C.

The next step for the team is to evaluate the many potential uses of this new tool to see how it could best and most directly benefit clinicians and patients
.

This technology could trigger a paradigm shift in the use and understanding of immune system information in health and disease by clinicians, patients and researchers

Enhanced cell deconvolution of peripheral blood using DNA methylation for high-resolution immune profiling Nature Communications