Other applications of MeD-seq

As MeD-seq requires a relatively low amount of DNA input it works with sample types that give DNA yields below average. This presents opportunities in the emerging field of liquid biopsy. For example cell free DNA (cfDNA) from blood, Methylomics is working on promising developments in oncology for diagnostic purposes such as the classification, the monitoring of disease progression and personalized medicine (i.e., treatment prediction). In collaboration with academia MeD-seq is already used to detect DNA methylation profiles in cfDNA with the purpose of providing a tool in the follow-up of surgical treatment of liver metastases in patients with colorectal cancer. Because in healthy individuals cfDNA mainly originates from blood cell types, both cancer-specific and tissue-specific methylation emanating from the affected neighboring tissue can provide crucial information in the follow-up of these colon carcinoma patients. These tissue-specific methylation patterns found in cfDNA are also the basis for the use of MeD-seq in current studies into the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases. Here, cfDNA, DNA from cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and various sorted populations of cell types from brain tissues are being used for MeD-seq analysis. Our aim for the future is to push MeD-seq towards single cell level. In close collaboration with multiple academic centers steps are undertaken to optimize the MeD-seq wetlab protocol to look at circulating tumor cells in the blood of cancer patients using single cell MeD-seq.  

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