Comparison of 4 commercial kits for the extraction of circulating DNA from plasma

We describe the evaluation of 4 commercial DNA purification kits—QIAamp Circulating Nucleic Acids kit, QIAamp DNA Blood Mini kit, QIAamp Ultrasens Virus kit and the QIASymphony DSP Virus kit—for the extraction of high and low molecular weight DNA from blood plasma. Using qPCR to quantitate endogenous Alu sequences, as well as spiked exogenous high and low molecular weight zebrafish DNA, we found that the Circulating Nucleic Acids kit and the DSP kit were both efficient at purifying DNA from plasma regardless of fragment size, whereas the DNA Blood Mini kit was only able to effectively extract high molecular weight DNA. The Ultrasens Virus Kit produced the lowest yields for both large and small fragments. The use of carrier RNA with the Circulating Nucleic Acids and the DSP kits improved yields. Appropriate choice of kit can be an important factor in determining experiment outcome.
Source: Cancer Genetics - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research