Abstract
Detection of low copies of methylated DNA targets in clinical specimens is challenging. The quantitative Methylation-Specific PCR (qMSP) assays were designed to specifically amplify bisulphite-converted methylated DNA target sequences in the presence of an excess of unmethylated counterpart sequences. These qMSP assays are real-time PCR assays utilizing, sequence-specific primers and an intervening, also sequence specific, Taqman probe to cover an amplicon of approximately 100 bp in length. The use of Taqman probes bearing a minor groove binding (MGB) allow for the use of shorter probes and therefore facilitate design and significantly increases the analytical specificity of the reaction. In the context of the biomarker discovery program of the Liverpool Lung Project (LLP), ten gene promoters were selected. qMSP assays were developed, validated and used to screen 655 bronchial washings from patients with lung cancer and age/sex matched controls with non malignant lung disease (Nikolaidis et al., 2012).
Materials and Reagents
-
TaqMan® Universal Master Mix II no UNG (Life Technologies, catalog number: 4440039 )
-
TaqMan MGB probes (custom synthesis) (Life Technologies)
-
EZ DNA Methylation-GoldTM kit (ZymoResearch, catalog number: D5006 )
-
The methylation-specific primer and probe sequences (see Recipes)
Equipment
-
PCR cabinet
-
PCR plates
-
Centrifuge (Sigma-Aldrich)
-
PCR thermal cycler (Life Technologies/Applied Biosystems, model: 9700 )
-
Real time PCR machine (Life Technologies/Applied Biosystems, model: 7500 FAST )
Procedure
-
Primer/probe design
Note: Primer/probe design is of major importance for the specificity of the reaction, i.e. to amplify only methylated bisulphite-converted target in the presence of excess unmethylated target. The primers should include 3-5 CG dinucleotides. The inclusion of at least two such CGs within the six 3’ end of the primer significantly increases specificity. This is in addition to the usual rules on primer stability, GC content and secondary structure avoidance apply in real time PCR assay design.
-
One μg DNA was converted by sodium bisulphite using the EZ DNA Methylation-GoldTM kit and following the supplier’s protocol but eluting in 50 μl elution buffer (instead of the recommended 10 μl).
-
The qMSP reactions contained 1x TaqMan® Universal Master Mix II non-UNG, 250 nM probe, 300-900 nM primers (Table 1) and 2 μl eluate from the bisulphite treated DNA sample.
Note: The primer concentration is an important determinant of analytical sensitivity/specificity and has to be ascertained experimentally In other words the analytical sensitivity threshold is set to the dilution that has an overlapping 95% Confidence Interval with the unmethylated control reaction. In practical terms, the highest sensitivity one can use is the one that is always at least 2 ΔCt. lower than the unmethylated control.
Table 1. Primer-probe concentrations for oligo mixes
Primer/probe mix
|
Final concentration (nM)
|
Fwd primer
|
Rev Primer
|
Probe
|
p16
|
700
|
700
|
250
|
TERT
|
250
|
250
|
250
|
RASSF1
|
700
|
700
|
250
|
TMEFF2
|
900
|
900
|
250
|
CYGB
|
300
|
300
|
250
|
RARb
|
500
|
500
|
250
|
DAPK1
|
250
|
250
|
250
|
p73
|
250
|
250
|
250
|
WT1
|
750
|
750
|
250
|
CDH13
|
250
|
250
|
250
|
ACTB
|
900
|
900
|
250
|
-
PCR plates were sealed and span at 4,000 x g for 1 min prior to be placed in the thermal cycler in order to bring all the reaction volume to the bottom and ensure removal of bubbles from the reaction mix.
-
The reactions were performed in duplicate on a 7500 FAST real time cycler under the following thermal profile: 95 °C for 10 min activation step followed by 50 cycles consisted of denaturation at 95 °C for 15 sec, annealing and extension at 58 °C–65 °C (Table 2, depending on the assay) for 1 min.
Table 2. Annealing information for qMSP optimised conditions
Genes
|
Annealing temp (°C)
|
Time (sec)
|
p16
|
60
|
60
|
RASSF1
|
60
|
60
|
CYGB
|
64
|
5
|
61
|
55
|
RARB
|
65
|
5
|
62
|
55
|
TERT
|
65
|
5
|
62.5
|
55
|
WT
|
62
|
60
|
ACTB
|
58
|
20
|
60
|
40
|
CDH13
|
64
|
5
|
61
|
55
|
DAPK
|
65
|
5
|
62.5
|
55
|
P73
|
65
|
5
|
62.5
|
55
|
TMEFF
|
58
|
20
|
60
|
40
|
Recipes
-
The methylation-specific primer and probe sequences are listed in Table 3. In the initial steps of assay development it became apparent that probes bearing minor groove binding moiety (Taqman MGB probes) provided significantly higher assay specificity. In addition, due to their smaller size, they allow for a more flexible assay design.
Table 3. Nucleotide sequences of methylation specific primers and probes
for the qMSP assays utilised in the BW screening. The ACTB assay is
methylation-independent acting as DNA input control.
Primer/probe name
|
Sequence 5’ →3’
|
Modification
|
p16meth_F
|
GGAGGGGGTTTTTTCGTTAGTATC
|
|
p16meth_R
|
CTACCTACTCTCCCCCTCTCCG
|
|
p16meth_P
|
AACGCACGCGATCC
|
FAM-MGB
|
RASSF1meth_F
|
GTGGTGTTTTGCGGTCGTC
|
|
RASSF1meth_R
|
AACTAAACGCGCTCTCGCA
|
|
RASSF1_P
|
CGTTGTGGTCGTTCG
|
FAM-MGB
|
TMEFF2meth_F
|
GGAGAGTTAAGGCGTTTCGTAGTTC
|
|
TMEFF2meth_R
|
CGTGGGAAGAGGTAGTCGGG
|
|
TMEFF2meth_P
|
GTTTTTAGTTCGTTCG
|
FAM-MGB
|
TERTmeth_F
|
TTGGGAGTTCGGTTTGGTTTC
|
|
TERTmeth_R
|
CACCCTAAAAACGCGAACGA
|
|
TERTmeth_P
|
AGCGTAGTTGTTTCGG
|
FAM-MGB
|
CYGBmeth_F
|
GTGTAATTTCGTCGTGGTTTGC
|
|
CYGBmeth_R
|
CCGACAAAATAAAAACTACGCG
|
|
CYGBmeth_P
|
TGGGCGGGCGGTAG
|
FAM-MGB
|
RARbmeth_F
|
GATTGGGATGTCGAGAACGC
|
|
RARbmeth_R
|
ACTTACAAAAAACCTTCCGAATACG
|
|
RARbmeth_P
|
AGCGATTCGAGTAGGGT
|
FAM-MGB
|
DAPK1meth_F
|
CGAGCGTCGCGTAGAATTC
|
|
DAPK1meth_R
|
ACCCTACAAACGAACTAACGACG
|
|
DAPK1meth_P
|
AGCGTCGGTTTGGTAG
|
FAM-MGB
|
p73meth_F
|
TTGTTTTTTGGATTTTAAGCGTTTC
|
|
p73meth_R
|
CACCCGAATCTCTCCTAACCG
|
|
p73meth_P
|
TAACGCTAAACTCCTCG
|
FAM-MGB
|
WT1meth_F
|
GAGGAGTTAGGAGGTTCGGTC
|
|
WT1meth_R
|
CACCCCAACTACGAAAACG
|
|
WT1meth_P
|
AGTTCGGTTAGGTAGC
|
FAM-MGB
|
CDH13meth_F
|
CGTGTATGAATGAAAACGTCGTC
|
|
CDH13meth_R
|
CACAAAACGAACGAAATTCTCG
|
|
CDH13meth_P
|
CGTTTTTAGTCGGATAAAA
|
FAM-MGB
|
ACTBmgb_F
|
GGGTGGTGATGGAGGAGGTT
|
|
ACTBmgb_R
|
TAACCACCACCCAACACACAAT
|
|
ACTBmgb_P
|
TGGATTGTGAATTTGTGTTTG
|
VIC-MGB
|
Cycle threshold (Ct) values for each target were normalized for DNA input by calculating the ΔCt=Ct(Target)-Ct(ACTB). The values for al samples were transformed to relative quantity (RQ) compare to the calibrator (0.5% standard methylated DNA dilution) included in all experiments using the following type:
RQsample = 2-ΔΔCt, whereΔΔCt = ΔCtsample - ΔCtcalibrator.
Note: qMSP is a challenging version of real-time PCR and one needs to gain a very good understanding of the latter prior to engaging in qMSP experiments. The main additional challenge is the use of bisulphite DNA which is of lower quality but most importantly of lower complexity. This significantly affects the thermodynamic behavior of this template in the reaction. The authors are very happy to provide assistance to colleagues if needed; please email Dr. T Liloglou (tliloglo@liv.ac.uk).
Acknowledgments
This protocol is adapted from Nikolaidis et al. (2012).
References
-
Liloglou, T., Bediaga, N. G., Brown, B. R., Field, J. K. and Davies, M. P. (2012). Epigenetic biomarkers in lung cancer. Cancer Lett 342(2): 200-212.
-
Nikolaidis, G., Raji, O. Y., Markopoulou, S., Gosney, J. R., Bryan, J., Warburton, C., Walshaw, M., Sheard, J., Field, J. K. and Liloglou, T. (2012). DNA methylation biomarkers offer improved diagnostic efficiency in lung cancer. Cancer Res 72(22): 5692-5701.
Please login or register for free to view full text
View full text
Download PDF
Q&A
Copyright: © 2013 The Authors; exclusive licensee Bio-protocol LLC.
How to cite: Liloglou, T. and Nikolaidis, G. (2013). Quantitative Methylation Specific PCR (qMSP).
Bio-protocol 3(16): e871. DOI:
10.21769/BioProtoc.871.