Semi-automated ELISA-based detection system for verifying the authenticity of amplified t(14;18)-containing products

PCR product sizing on ethidium bromide-stained gels, coupled with Southern transfer and hybridization with nonisotopic probes, is an effective way of detecting t(14;18)(q32;q21). We evaluated an alternative ELISA-based test for detecting amplified t(14;18) products. Digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled dUTP is incorporated in a standard PCR method for amplification of bcl-2 major breakpoint region (mbr) rearrangements. The product is hybridized to a specific biotinylated DNA probe internal to the mbr primer, placed in streptavidin-coated wells of a microtiter plate, and detected with a alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-DIG antibody and enzyme substrate (pNpp). The colorimetric product is quantitated by an automated optical density (O.D.) reader. We evaluated 13 mbr-positive follicular lymphomas (FL), five mbr-negative B-cell neoplasms (BCN), 16 reactive lymphoid hyperplasias (RLH), 14 cases of Hodgkin's disease (HD), and normal peripheral blood samples from 20 healthy volunteers. All samples were evaluated in duplicate on separate plates. Positive [t(14;18)-containing cell line] and negative [cell line without t(14;18); master mix only] controls, and a standard curve were included with each run. Numerical O.D. readings from the specific hybridization assays revealed differences between FL and the other categories. All FL had an O.D. reading at > 2.0. The vast majority of RLH, HD, BCN, and normal peripheral blood samples showed O.D. readings well below 2.0. Specifically, 13/16 RLH and all HD, BCN, and normal peripheral blood samples had an O.D. of < or = 0.6 in all runs. The three outliers, which were all < 2.0, may represent the low level detection of t(14;18)-containing cells in RLH similar to previous reports. Moreover, all but four RLH had O.D. readings above the background negative controls, suggesting that rare t(14;18)-containing cells may have been present in these samples, as well. Dilution studies estimate that this assay is capable of detecting 1 t(14;18)-containing cell in approximately 10(5) cells, a greater level of sensitivity than can be obtained with gel visualization alone. We conclude that this semi-automated, potentially quantifiable ELISA-based system is a useful, objective and reproducible alternative hybridization procedure for verifying PCR product specificity in this setting.