Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34327613›Full record

ArticleMolecular diagnosis & therapy2021

Development and Evaluation of a Droplet Digital PCR Assay for 8p23 β-Defensin Cluster Copy Number Determination.

Tingting Wen, Xianghong Zhang, Christoph Lippuner, Marcel Schiff, Frank Stuber

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular diagnosis & therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 41% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Tingting WenDepartment of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xianghong ZhangDepartment of Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, The Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Heath, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. xianghong_zhang@zju.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6810-3346
Christoph LippunerDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
Marcel SchiffDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
Frank StuberDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Bern University Hospital, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
University Hospital of Bern · CHChildren's Hospital of Zhejiang University · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionIt has been proposed that the copy number (CN) variation (CNV) in β-defensin genes (DEFB) on human chromosome 8p23 determines phenotypic differences in inflammatory diseases. However, no method for accurate and easy DEFB CN quantification is yet available.

objectiveDroplet digital polymerase chain reaction (ddPCR) is a novel method for CNV quantification and has been used for genes such as CCL4L, CCL3L1, AMY1, and HER2. However, to date, no ddPCR assay has been available for DEFB CN determination. In the present study, we aimed to develop and evaluate such a ddPCR assay.

methodsThe assay was designed using DEFB4 and RPP30 as the target and the reference gene, respectively. To evaluate the assay, 283 DNA samples with known CNs previously determined using the multiple ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) method, the current gold standard, were used as standards. To discover the optimal DNA template amount, we tested 80 to 2.5 ng DNA by a serial of one to two dilutions of eight samples. To evaluate the reproducibility of the assay, 31 samples were repeated to calculate the intra- and inter-assay variations. To further validate the reliability of the assay, the CNs of all 283 samples were determined using ddPCR. To compare results with those using quantitative PCR (qPCR), DEFB CNs for 48 samples were determined using qPCR with the same primers and probes.

resultsIn a one-dimensional plot, the positive and negative droplets were clearly separated in both DEFB4 and RPP30 detection channels. In a two-dimensional plot, four populations of droplets were observed. The 20 ng template DNA proved optimal, with either high (80 ng) or low (10, 5, 2.5 ng) template input leading to ambiguous or inaccurate results. For the 31 standard samples, DEFB CNs were accurately determined with small intra- and inter-assay variations (coefficient of variation < 0.04 for both). In the validation cohort, ddPCR provided the correct CN for all 283 samples with high confidence. qPCR measurements for the 48 samples produced noisy data with high uncertainty and low accuracy.

conclusionsddPCR is an accurate, reproducible, easy-to-use, cheap, high-throughput method for DEFB CN determination. ddPCR could be applied to DEFB CN quantification in large-scale case-control studies.

Indexed as

beta-DefensinsDNA Copy Number VariationsDNA PrimersHumansReal-Time Polymerase Chain ReactionReproducibility of Resultsbeta-DefensinsDNA Primers

Identifiers

PMID34327613
PMCPMC8320422
OpenAlexW3185407598

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.