Adaptive filtering framework to remove nonspecific and low-efficiency reactions in multiplex digital PCR based on sigmoidal trends.
File(s)acs.analchem.2c01883.pdf (6.11 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Real-time digital polymerase chain reaction (qdPCR) coupled with machine learning (ML) methods has shown the potential to unlock scientific breakthroughs, particularly in the field of molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases. One promising application of this emerging field explores single fluorescent channel PCR multiplex by extracting target-specific kinetic and thermodynamic information contained in amplification curves, also known as data-driven multiplexing. However, accurate target classification is compromised by the presence of undesired amplification events and not ideal reaction conditions. Therefore, here, we proposed a novel framework to identify and filter out nonspecific and low-efficient reactions from qdPCR data using outlier detection algorithms purely based on sigmoidal trends of amplification curves. As a proof-of-concept, this framework is implemented to improve the classification performance of the recently reported data-driven multiplexing method called amplification curve analysis (ACA), using available published data where the ACA is demonstrated to screen carbapenemase-producing organisms in clinical isolates. Furthermore, we developed a novel strategy, named adaptive mapping filter (AMF), to adjust the percentage of outliers removed according to the number of positive counts in qdPCR. From an overall total of 152,000 amplification events, 116,222 positive amplification reactions were evaluated before and after filtering by comparing against melting peak distribution, proving that abnormal amplification curves (outliers) are linked to shifted melting distribution or decreased PCR efficiency. The ACA was applied to assess classification performance before and after AMF, showing an improved sensitivity of 1.2% when using inliers compared to a decrement of 19.6% when using outliers (p-value < 0.0001), removing 53.5% of all wrong melting curves based only on the amplification shape. This work explores the correlation between the kinetics of amplification curves and the thermodynamics of melting curves, and it demonstrates that filtering out nonspecific or low-efficient reactions can significantly improve the classification accuracy for cutting-edge multiplexing methodologies.
Date Issued
2022-10-18
Date Acceptance
2022-09-22
Citation
Analytical Chemistry, 2022, 94 (41), pp.14159-14168
ISSN
0003-2700
Publisher
American Chemical Society
Start Page
14159
End Page
14168
Journal / Book Title
Analytical Chemistry
Volume
94
Issue
41
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society. This work is published under a CC BY 4.0 International licence.
License URL
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Wellcome Trust
Wellcome Trust
National Institute for Health Research
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36190816
Grant Number
RDF04
215688/Z/19/Z
215688/Z/19/Z
NIHR200876
RDF04
Subjects
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Chemistry, Analytical
Chemistry
REAL-TIME PCR
AMPLIFICATION
Algorithms
Kinetics
Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Kinetics
Algorithms
Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction
Analytical Chemistry
0301 Analytical Chemistry
0399 Other Chemical Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Date Publish Online
2022-10-03