Epigenetic signatures on plasma cell-free DNA to detect kidney allograft rejection in a non-invasive way: development of a 10-plex digital PCR assay.

ABSTRACT: The standard of care for the follow-up of kidney allograft recipients combines non-invasive but non-specific biomarkers and kidney biopsies for the gold standard histology-based diagnosis, limited by the sampling bias, haemorrhagic risk, and low cost-effectiveness. We hypothesized that a targeted epigenetic analysis of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) would combine non-invasiveness and specificity for the diagnosis of kidney allograft rejection. We developed an in silico pipeline to identify 9 specific methylation signatures of epithelial or endothelial cell types in glomerular and tubular kidney compartments. Methylation-specific digital Polymerase Chain Reaction (dPCR) were designed and validated for these markers and combined in a 10-plex dPCR. In a retrospective cohort of 170 plasma cfDNA from ad

SUBMITTER: Velut Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12465476 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature