UltraPrep is a scalable, cost-effective, bead-based method for purifying cell-free DNA

Abstract

UltraPrep is an open-source, two-step method for purification of cell-free DNA that entails extraction of total DNA followed by size-selective enrichment of the smaller fragments that are characteristic of DNA originating from fragmentation between nucleosome. The advantages of the method are that it can easily accommodate a wide range of sample input volumes, it relies on simple, magnetic bead-based technology, the yields of cfDNA are directly comparable to the most popular methods for cfDNA purification, and it dramatically reduces the cost of cfDNA isolation relative to currently available commercial methods. We provide a framework for physical and molecular quality analysis of purified cfDNA and demonstrate that the cfDNA generated by UltraPrep meets or exceeds the quality metrics of the most commonly used procedure. Our method removes high molecular weight genomic DNA that can interfere with downstream assay results, thereby addressing one of the primary concerns for preanalytical collection of blood samples.