Detection of the MYD88 mutation by the combination of the allele-specific PCR and quenching probe methods

The MYD88 missense mutation c.794T>C, p.Leu265Pro, is found in patients with Waldenstörm's macroglobulinemia and lymphoma. Direct sequencing, allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR), PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), and high-resolution melting analysis (HRM) are currently used to detect the mutation; however, they are either time-consuming or have low detection sensitivity. Here, we developed a novel highly sensitive and rapid detection method based on the quenching probe (QP) technique and AS-PCR.

A lymphoma cell line heterozygous for the MYD88 mutation, two wild-type cell lines, and two samples from Waldenstörm's macroglobulinemia patients were analyzed by AS-PCR, PCR-RFLP, HRM, and QP, and their detection sensitivity was examined using the mixtures of the mutant and wild-type DNA.

For mutation-carrying heterozygous samples, the QP method produced W-shaped melting profiles presenting curves derived from the wild-type and mutant alleles. The QP analysis was performed in 2 h and demonstrated the detection limit of 5%, which was similar to that of the other methods. However, the combination of AS-PCR and QP (AS-QP) improved the sensitivity to 0.62% of the mutant allele.

The AS-QP analysis is rapid and minimally improves detection sensitivity compared to the AS-PCR.