RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cell-free chromatin immunoprecipitation to detect molecular pathways in heart transplantation
JF Life Science Alliance
JO Life Sci. Alliance
FD Life Science Alliance LLC
SP e202302003
DO 10.26508/lsa.202302003
VO 6
IS 12
A1 Jang, Moon Kyoo
A1 Markowitz, Tovah E
A1 Andargie, Temesgen E
A1 Apalara, Zainab
A1 Kuhn, Skyler
A1 Agbor-Enoh, Sean
YR 2023
UL http://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/6/12/e202302003.abstract
AB Existing monitoring approaches in heart transplantation lack the sensitivity to provide deep molecular assessments to guide management, or require endomyocardial biopsy, an invasive and blind procedure that lacks the precision to reliably obtain biopsy samples from diseased sites. This study examined plasma cell-free DNA chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (cfChIP-seq) as a noninvasive proxy to define molecular gene sets and sources of tissue injury in heart transplant patients. In healthy controls and in heart transplant patients, cfChIP-seq reliably detected housekeeping genes. cfChIP-seq identified differential gene signals of relevant immune and nonimmune molecular pathways that were predominantly down-regulated in immunosuppressed heart transplant patients compared with healthy controls. cfChIP-seq also identified cell-free DNA tissue sources. Compared with healthy controls, heart transplant patients demonstrated greater cell-free DNA from tissue types associated with heart transplant complications, including the heart, hematopoietic cells, lungs, liver, and vascular endothelium. cfChIP-seq may therefore be a reliable approach to profile dynamic assessments of molecular pathways and sources of tissue injury in heart transplant patients.