UC San Diego

AIM: Circulating cell free (ccf) DNA contains information about mutations affecting chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The complexity of isolating DNA from plasma inhibits the development of point-of-care diagnostics. Here, we introduce an electrokinetic method that enables rapid recovery of DNA from plasma. MATERIALS & METHODS: ccf-DNA was isolated from 25 µl of CLL plasma using dielectrophoresis. The DNA was used for PCR amplification, sequencing and analysis. RESULTS: The ccf-DNA collected from plasma of 5 CLL patients revealed identical mutations to those previously identified by extracting DNA from CLL cells from the same patients. CONCLUSION: Rapid dielectrophoresis isolation of ccf-DNA directly from plasma provides sufficient amounts of DNA to use for identification of point mutations in genes associated with CLL progression.