title: Quantitative real-time PCR assisted cell counting (qPACC) for epigenetic - based immune cell quantification in blood and tissue.
abstract: A novel form of immune cell quantification in blood and tissue is described using epigenetic - based, quantitative real-time PCR assisted cell counting (qPACC). The methylation status of the chromatin structure of either actively expressed or silenced genes is the basis of the epigenetic-based cell identification and quantification technology. Discovery of cell type specific removal of methyl groups (demethylation) from the 5'-carbon of the cytosine base in the dinucleotide cytosine phosphate guanine permits precise and robust quantification of immune cells from only small amounts of human blood or tissue samples. These epigenetic biomarkers located on genomic DNA are stably associated with a cell type of interest.
authors.affiliation: Epiontis GmbH, Rudower Chaussee 29, 12489, Berlin Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas Oliver
authors.initials: TO
authors.lastname: Kleen
authors.affiliation: Immune Monitoring Core, Ludwig Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Ave, Box 386, New York, NY 10065 USA.
authors.forename: Jianda
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
keywords: Biomarker; Cell quantification; Cell-mediated immunity; Epigenetic; Immune monitoring