title: Human Nail Clippings as a Source of DNA for Genetic Studies.
abstract: Blood samples have traditionally been used as the main source of DNA for genetic analysis. However, this source can be difficult in terms of collection, transportation, and long-term storage. In this study, we investigated whether human nail clippings could be used as a source of DNA for SNP genotyping, null-allele detection, and whole-genome amplification. From extracted nail DNA, we achieved amplicons up to a length of ~400 bp and >96% concordance for SNP genotyping and 100% concordance for null-allele detection compared to DNA derived from matched blood samples. For whole-genome amplification, OmniPlex performed better than Multiple Displacement Amplification with a success rate of 89.3% and 76.8% for SNP genotyping and null-allele detection, respectively. Concordance was ~98% for both methods. When combined with OmniPlex whole-genome amplification, human nail clippings could potentially be used as an alternative to whole blood as a less invasive and more convenient source of DNA for genotyping studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Truong
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Hannah Lui
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Seong Sil
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Argyrios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ziogas
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Etiology, Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Neuhausen
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Etiology, Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sophia S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Cancer Etiology, Department of Population Sciences, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bernstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Hoda
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Anton-Culver
keywords: Genotyping; Nail Clippings; Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP); Whole Genome Amplification (WGA)