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Credit: Graham Colm
Investigators have found they can use DNA methylation to simultaneously count multiple leukocyte subsets in blood samples, and they’ve reported this finding in Genome Biology.
The researchers noted that current methods of counting leukocytes in a blood sample require whole cells.
But as their newly developed method relies on DNA, it can be useful even in archived blood samples in which cells have lost their physical integrity.
“Once you understand the unique and really immutable [methylation] signature that directs the differentiation of the cell, then you can use that, and you don’t need the cell anymore,” said study author Karl Kelsey, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
So the new test detects those methylation signatures in a blood sample and, with the help of algorithms, allows researchers to count how many cells of each type are in the sample.
Dr Kelsey and his colleagues found they could quantify T cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils.
The investigators tested their method using fresh blood samples from more than 80 donors.
The new technique proved as accurate as 3 gold-standard methods of cell quantification: manual 5-part differential, complete blood count with automated 5-part differential, and fluorescence activated cell sorting.
In further experiments, the team found their technique could detect the mixtures of immune cells associated with known diseases.
The method also proved effective with blood exposed to storage conditions, such as freezing and the addition of anticoagulants.
Moreover, the researchers showed that to distinguish among and count those various immune cell types, they only needed to measure a few dozen methylation marks in the DNA. In other words, what’s sufficient to constitute a signature can be quite short.
This method has proven feasible enough that other epidemiology research labs are already using it, Dr Kelsey said. And Brown University has applied for a patent on the technique.
Dr Kelsey said the method has the potential to be cheaper and faster than current techniques, although the investigators didn’t test that in their experiments. 
Credit: Graham Colm
Investigators have found they can use DNA methylation to simultaneously count multiple leukocyte subsets in blood samples, and they’ve reported this finding in Genome Biology.
The researchers noted that current methods of counting leukocytes in a blood sample require whole cells.
But as their newly developed method relies on DNA, it can be useful even in archived blood samples in which cells have lost their physical integrity.
“Once you understand the unique and really immutable [methylation] signature that directs the differentiation of the cell, then you can use that, and you don’t need the cell anymore,” said study author Karl Kelsey, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
So the new test detects those methylation signatures in a blood sample and, with the help of algorithms, allows researchers to count how many cells of each type are in the sample.
Dr Kelsey and his colleagues found they could quantify T cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils.
The investigators tested their method using fresh blood samples from more than 80 donors.
The new technique proved as accurate as 3 gold-standard methods of cell quantification: manual 5-part differential, complete blood count with automated 5-part differential, and fluorescence activated cell sorting.
In further experiments, the team found their technique could detect the mixtures of immune cells associated with known diseases.
The method also proved effective with blood exposed to storage conditions, such as freezing and the addition of anticoagulants.
Moreover, the researchers showed that to distinguish among and count those various immune cell types, they only needed to measure a few dozen methylation marks in the DNA. In other words, what’s sufficient to constitute a signature can be quite short.
This method has proven feasible enough that other epidemiology research labs are already using it, Dr Kelsey said. And Brown University has applied for a patent on the technique.
Dr Kelsey said the method has the potential to be cheaper and faster than current techniques, although the investigators didn’t test that in their experiments.
Credit: Graham Colm
Investigators have found they can use DNA methylation to simultaneously count multiple leukocyte subsets in blood samples, and they’ve reported this finding in Genome Biology.
The researchers noted that current methods of counting leukocytes in a blood sample require whole cells.
But as their newly developed method relies on DNA, it can be useful even in archived blood samples in which cells have lost their physical integrity.
“Once you understand the unique and really immutable [methylation] signature that directs the differentiation of the cell, then you can use that, and you don’t need the cell anymore,” said study author Karl Kelsey, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
So the new test detects those methylation signatures in a blood sample and, with the help of algorithms, allows researchers to count how many cells of each type are in the sample.
Dr Kelsey and his colleagues found they could quantify T cells, B cells, NK cells, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils.
The investigators tested their method using fresh blood samples from more than 80 donors.
The new technique proved as accurate as 3 gold-standard methods of cell quantification: manual 5-part differential, complete blood count with automated 5-part differential, and fluorescence activated cell sorting.
In further experiments, the team found their technique could detect the mixtures of immune cells associated with known diseases.
The method also proved effective with blood exposed to storage conditions, such as freezing and the addition of anticoagulants.
Moreover, the researchers showed that to distinguish among and count those various immune cell types, they only needed to measure a few dozen methylation marks in the DNA. In other words, what’s sufficient to constitute a signature can be quite short.
This method has proven feasible enough that other epidemiology research labs are already using it, Dr Kelsey said. And Brown University has applied for a patent on the technique.
Dr Kelsey said the method has the potential to be cheaper and faster than current techniques, although the investigators didn’t test that in their experiments.