Effect of pre-analytic variables on the reproducibility of qPCR relative telomere length measurement.

ABSTRACT: Telomeres, long nucleotide repeats and a protein complex at chromosome ends, shorten with each cell division and are susceptible to oxidative damage. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is a widely-used technique to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in DNA samples but is challenging to optimize and significant lab-to-lab variability has been reported. In this study, we evaluated factors that may contribute to qPCR RTL measurement variability including DNA extraction methods, methods used for removing potential residual PCR inhibitors, sample storage conditions, and sample location in the PCR plate. Our results show that the DNA extraction and purification techniques, as well as sample storage conditions introduce significant variability in qPCR RTL results. We did not find significant differences

SUBMITTER: Dagnall CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5590866 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature