P-528 Establishing sequencing coverage depth for preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M) using a specific targeted next generation sequencing (tNGS)
Authors: Garcia Pascual C  M , Guo V , Wang X , Zhan Y , Mounts E , Capalbo A , Jalas C , Tao X 
Published: July 2024

Study question

What is the sufficient sequencing coverage read depth (RD) for direct variant analysis for PGT-M using a specific tNGS assay?

Summary answer

Downsampling modelling experiments identified a minimum sequencing depth of 50X that is recommended for PGT-M with this specific tNGS assay.

What is known already

Properly developed and validated multiplex PCR amplification and NGS-based analysis reliably produces PGT-M diagnoses with low allele and amplification failure at RD of hundreds of reads when analyzing a 3-10 cell trophectoderm (TE) biopsy. However, the RD can be affected by amplification efficiency in a specific genomic region and therefore affect the reproducibility of variant detection: the higher the number of aligned reads, the higher the confidence of base calling at a particular position. Downsampling is a powerful bioinformatics tool for modelling comparisons between samples or between replicates, identifying analytical sequencing depth limits for accurate clinical diagnosis.

Study design, size, duration

This is a retrospective comparative diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) and verification study. Twenty-three embryos from 8 patients that had undergone PGT-M with clinically established Taqman qPCR genotyping were used as positive controls. The primary outcome was to establish the lowest RD point of down sampling where allelic frequency is reliably detected at heterozygosity between 20-80% in known positive controls. A further 30 PGT-M clinical cases were used to verify analytical performances under clinical conditions.

Participants/materials, setting, methods

Embryo biopsies were pre-amplified with a multiplex primer pool for PGT-M and PGT-A, using a two-step PCR strategy. Sequencing was performed on Illumina NextSeq550. Reads were aligned to a human reference genome (GRCh37/hg19) and processed with an in house bioinformatic pipeline. The RD and alternative allele frequencies (AAF) for PGT-M was calculated. The reads for the heterozygous variants were downsampled to 10X, 20X, 30X, 50X, 100X, 200X, 300X, 500X, and 1000X to establish the cutoff.

Main results and the role of chance

One or two TE biopsies (N = 44) of 23 embryos that were 100% concordant with previous PGT-M results were tested for 1 to 3 of the 12 variants (MLH1 c.199G&gt;A, RB1 c.1589A&gt;G, SLC16A2 c.604G&gt;A, GNPTAB c.1123C&gt;T, GNPTAB c.3314A&gt;G, WFS1 c.1391C&gt;G, USH2A c.10073G&gt;A, USH2A del exons 5-11, F5 c.1601G&gt;A, GAA c.693-1G&gt;C, GAA c.875A&gt;G, and HEXA c.1274_1277dupTATC). PGT-A analysis of multiple biopsies from the same embryo demonstrated consistent karyotypes (N = 44). The 19 heterozygous variants from 17 biopsies exhibited average RD of 763X (238X -1980X) with average AAF of 50% (44%- 56%). The reads for the heterozygous variants were downsampled to different levels (100,000 replicates). The distribution of the AAF were compared among the different depth levels. At a RD of 50X, the AAF displayed an interquartile range (IQR) of 8% (46%-54%) between the maximum and minimum values from 20% to 78%. Compared to 30X (IQR: 43%-57%, with minimum 13% and maximum 90%), and 100X (IQR: 47%-54%, with minimum 30% and maximum 71%), the RD at 50X generated reliable heterozygous calls with minimum depth requirement. 245 biopsies from 30 clinic cases were analyzed by tNGS-based PGT-M. 90 samples with heterozygous variant calls showed average RD of 979X (57X-5803X) with average AAF of 47% (29%-585).

Limitations, reasons for caution

The 50X cutoff is based on the heterozygous variants with theoretical 50% AFF and is specific for this PGT-A assay. This evaluation should be corroborated for complicated variants with homologous genes, which might require different thresholds. The aneuploidy at specific chromosome can cause the deviation of AFF from 50%.

Wider implications of the findings

This specific tNGS-based PGT-M can provide direct variant analysis at a 50X read depth with a high level of consistency compared to established methodologies while allowing for simultaneous aneuploidy screening using the same biopsy and procedural optimization.

Trial registration number

not applicable