Sensitive, flexible, and affordable serum RNA sequencing for pathogen detection on the Oxford Nanopore platform

Selhorst P.; Van Vyve E.; Falconi-Agapito F.; Mariën J.; Ariën K.K. · BMC Genomics (2026) · DOI: 10.1186/s12864-025-12268-4

Resumen

Metagenomic sequencing for pathogen detection has traditionally suffered from low sensitivity due to the overwhelming presence of host nucleic acids. Commercial host-depletion kits are often prohibitively expensive and limited to specific species, hindering adoption in resource-limited settings, where the burden of zoonotic diseases is highest. To address this, we optimized and combined Sequence-Independent Single Primer Amplification (SISPA) with Depletion of Abundant Sequences by Hybridization (DASH), establishing a low-cost metagenomic protocol on the Oxford Nanopore sequencing platform. Our approach can be adapted to any species to detect microbial RNAs in serum samples at PCR-range sensitivity, outperforming existing methods in the field. © The Author(s) 2025.

Instituciones: Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia