Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40600355›Full record

ArticleAnalytical chemistry2025

Smart-Plexer 2.0: Leveraging New Features of Amplification Curves to Enhance the Selection of Multiplex PCR Assays in Multi-Target Identification.

Ke Xu, Luca Miglietta, Piyanate Kesakomol, Alison Holmes, Pantelis Georgiou, Nicolas Moser, Jesus Rodriguez-Manzano

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Analytical chemistry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

7 authors.

Ke XuDepartment of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.ORCID 0000-0001-7376-2805
Luca MigliettaDepartment of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.
Piyanate KesakomolDepartment of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.
Alison HolmesDepartment of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.
Pantelis GeorgiouDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.
Nicolas MoserDepartment of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.ORCID 0000-0002-6689-0486
Jesus Rodriguez-ManzanoDepartment of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0NN, U.K.ORCID 0000-0002-2583-8366

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Multiplex PCR plays a critical role in diagnostics by enabling the detection of multiple targets in a single reaction. However, its use is often limited by the need for multiple fluorescent channels, which are restricted in standard PCR instrumentation. Amplification curve analysis (ACA) is a data-driven multiplexing (DDM) approach that overcomes this limitation by using real-time PCR data and machine learning to differentiate targets in a single-channel, single-well format, without requiring instrument modifications. As part of this DDM strategy, we previously introduced Smart-Plexer 1.0, a tool that simulates multiplex assays using empirical singleplex data to identify optimal assay combinations in silico, maximizing kinetic feature distances between targets to support ACA-based discrimination. While Smart-Plexer 1.0 performs reliably in controlled reactions and offers a strong framework for the ACA assay design, it relies on a single kinetic feature and a median-based distance metric, which limits its accuracy in reactions with variable target concentrations or efficiencies. Here, we present Smart-Plexer 2.0, a more robust and accurate version designed to improve the performance in amplification reactions affected by such variability. This version introduces three new kinetic features that are stable across different template concentrations and uses clustering-based distance measures to better capture the variability between targets. Compared to its predecessor, Smart-Plexer 2.0 reduces accuracy variance by an order of magnitude and improves ACA classification by 1.5 and 1% in retrospective 3-plex and 7-plex assays, respectively. In a multi-experiment, cross-concentration evaluation of a newly developed 7-plex assay, it achieved 97.6% ACA accuracy, confirming its robustness across complex scenarios. Smart-Plexer 2.0 offers a reliable and scalable way to design high-performance multiplex PCR assays using standard real-time PCR instruments.

Indexed as

Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction

Identifiers

PMID40600355
PMCPMC12268814

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.