Tissue of origin characterization of cell free DNA in seminal plasma: Implications for new liquid biopsies.

ABSTRACT: Liquid biopsies are becoming increasingly used for the detection and monitoring of disease states. While cell free DNA (cfDNA) in blood and urine have been well studied, much less is known about the composition of cfDNA in seminal fluid. We sought to characterize cfDNA in seminal fluid through tissue of origin studies using methylation analysis in men aged 21-60 yrs. We confirmed the observations of others that seminal fluid contains an abundance of cfDNA that is both nucleosomal and > 1 kb. However, here we demonstrate for the first time that the high molecular weight (HMW) DNA harbors a lower sperm signal and higher somatic cell signal compared to the nucleosomal fraction. Prostate, granulocytes and kidney showed a mean predicted increased contribution of 6.2%, 4.9% and 2.9%, respectivel

SUBMITTER: Huang S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11957367 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature