From Sampling to Sequencing: A Liquid Biopsy Pre-Analytic Workflow to Maximize Multi-Layer Genomic Information from a Single Tube.

Liquid biopsies hold great promise for the management of cancer. Reliable liquid biopsy data depend on stable and reproducible pre-analytical protocols that comply with quality measures, irrespective of the sampling and processing site. We established a workflow for plasma preservation, followed by processing, cell-free nucleic acid isolation, quantification, and enrichment of potentially tumor-derived cell-free DNA and RNA.

Effects of charge-modifying mutations in histone H2A α3-domain on nucleosome stability assessed by single-pair FRET and MD simulations.

Nucleosomes are important for chromatin compaction and gene regulation; their integrity depends crucially on the structural properties of the histone tails. Recent all-atom molecular dynamics simulations revealed that removal of the N-terminal tails of histone H3, known to destabilize nucleosomes, causes a rearrangement of two arginines of histone H2A, namely R81 and R88 by altering the electrostatic environment of the H2A α3 domain. Whether this rearrangement is the cause or the effect of decreased stability, is unclear.

Opposing roles of H3- and H4-acetylation in the regulation of nucleosome structure––a FRET study.

Using FRET in bulk and on single molecules, we assessed the structural role of histone acetylation in nucleosomes reconstituted on the 170 bp long Widom 601 sequence. We followed salt-induced nucleosome disassembly, using donor–acceptor pairs on the ends or in the internal part of the nucleosomal DNA, and on H2B histone for measuring H2A/H2B dimer exchange. This allowed us to distinguish the influence of acetylation on salt-induced DNA unwrapping at the entry–exit site from its effect on nucleosome core dissociation.

Structural variability of nucleosomes detected by single-pair Förster resonance energy transfer: histone acetylation, sequence variation, and salt effects.

Nucleosomes were reconstituted from 170 bp long fragments of 5S rDNA and an optimal positioning sequence, the Selex 601, with recombinant histones. In free-solution single pair Förster resonance energy transfer (spFRET) measurements of the distance between fluorescently labeled bases in the nucleosomal DNA, the samples exhibited structural diversity. The structural heterogeneity correlated with the stability of the complexes and depended on the DNA sequence and histone acetylation.

Trinucleosome compaction studied by fluorescence energy transfer and scanning force microscopy.

The effect of the salt concentration, linker histone H1, and histone acetylation on the structure of trinucleosomes reconstituted on a 608 bp DNA containing one centered nucleosome positioning signal was studied. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in solution and scanning force microscopy (SFM) measurements in liquid were done on the same samples. The distance between the DNA ends decreases under the effect of an increasing salt concentration and also by the incorporation of the H1 linker histone.