Bridge Capture Permits Cost-Efficient, Rapid, and Sensitive Molecular Precision Diagnostics

Area of Science:

• Molecular Biology
• Genomics
• Cancer Diagnostics

Background:

• Liquid biopsies analyzing circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) via targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) are increasingly utilized.
• Existing library preparation methods present trade-offs between scalability, cost, sensitivity, and panel size.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate Bridge Capture, a novel liquid biopsy technology.
• To compare Bridge Capture's performance against established methods for variant allele frequency (VAF) detection.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 24 contrived colorectal biospecimens mimicking ctDNA.
• Comparison of Bridge Capture with Archer LIQUIDPlex and AmpliSeq CHP version 2 for Illumina.
• Evaluation of sequencing depth, interlaboratory reproducibility, automation compatibility, and panel scalability.

Main Results:

• Bridge Capture detected the lowest VAFs, showing strong correlation with Archer LIQUIDPlex (R² = 0.995) and AmpliSeq CHPv2 (R² = 0.988).
• Demonstrated high interlaboratory reproducibility and consistency between automated and manual workflows.
• Achieved a 300% panel size increase with negligible impact on performance and cross-reactivity, indicating high multiplexing capability.

Conclusions:

• Bridge Capture offers a cost-efficient, sensitive, and scalable solution for ctDNA analysis.
• The technology is compatible with standard NGS platforms and optimizes sequencing capacity.
• Bridge Capture has the potential to significantly advance cancer mutation detection through improved diagnostics.