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Establishing a method to extract bacterial DNA from the cervical mucus plug
Stud. Med. Lea Kirstine Hansen, årskortnummer: 20074156
Vejleder: Professor, DMSc., Niels Uldbjerg.
Abstract
Objective: The cervical mucus plug is thought to constitute a barrier against ascending infections
during pregnancy. Such infections may cause preterm birth. No previous studies have performed
bacterial DNA extraction from the cervical mucus plug. Bacterial DNA can be used for PCR
techniques. The objective was therefore to establish a method to extract bacterial DNA from the
cervical mucus plug.
Methods: Qiagen DNA Mini Kit (QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany), a silica membrane based
technique, and bead beating, a physical disruption technique, were compared regarding bacterial
DNA yield as measured by 16SrDNA qPCR.
Results: Both extraction methods were able to extract bacterial DNA from the cervical mucus plug,
and there was no difference in the DNA yield between the two.
Conclusion: By establishing two methods to extract bacterial DNA from the cervical mucus plug, it
is possible to conduct studies that focus on the amount and morphology of the cervical mucus plug.
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Introduction:
The cervical mucus plug (CMP) is a visco-elastic gel-like structure that fills out the cervical canal
during pregnancy (Figure 1). It constitutes a physical and immunological barrier between the sterile
uterine cavity and the bacterial rich vagina. Several studies suggest that the CMP exhibits important
gate-keeper functions during pregnancy and that this property is crucial for the protection against
ascending infection and hence preterm delivery (1–7)
Figure 1: The cervical mucus that creates the CMP is secreted from the endocervical glands/crypts. After conception
hormones influence the mucus to thicken and it becomes a regular plug.
Approximately 30% of all preterm deliveries have infectious etiology (8), and especially
Ureaplasma species have been linked to preterm birth (8–14). No previous studies have evaluated
the number or the species of the bacteria present in the CMP using polymerase chain reaction
(PCR) techniques. This technique is the most sensitive method to detect microbial pathogens in
clinical specimens, especially when many bacteria are difficult to culture in vitro, for example
Ureaplasma species(15). Other studies(16) have performed bacterial DNA extraction on cervix
mucus from non-pregnant women. However, it is not possible to use the same DNA extraction
methods due to differences in the the consistency of the mucus from pregnant and non-pregnant
women(17).
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The objective of this study was therefore to establish a method to extract bacterial DNA from CMP
specimens to subsequent use for quantitative PCR (qPCR).
Methods:
Whole cervical mucus plugs (CMPs) (figure 2) were either spontaneously shed or digitally retrieved
during active vaginal labor (n = 5, gestational age 37-42 weeks, cervical dilatation 4-10 cm). The
CMPs were stored at 4°C for a maximum of 48 hours before they were stored at -80°C, and kept
until analyses.
For bacterial DNA extraction, two methods were compared: Standard Qiagen extraction (Qiagen
DNA Mini Kit, QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany), and a bead beating (18) protocol with
subsequent Qiagen extraction. In order to determine which extraction method that results in the
highest DNA yield, extracts were run on 16SrDNA quantitative PCR (qPCR). 16SrDNA is a gene
that codes for 16SrRNA, which is a component of the 30S subunit of bacterial ribosomes. By using
this gene to design a primer for qPCR, the total bacterial load will be quantified.
Whole CMPs were crushed in liquid nitrogen with a mortar and pestle and from the resulting
powder 100 mg were used for extraction. Specimens from the same mucus plug were extracted
according to both protocols.
Figure 2: Whole CMP
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Qiagen blood and tissue kit
(QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany)
This DNA extraction method is based on a silica-membrane technology. The specimen/powder was
dissolved in 180μl ATL buffer and 20μl proteinase K in an incubator at 56°C until the mucus was
completely dissolved. 200μl AL buffer was added and the specimens were mixed thoroughly by
vortexing. Then 200μl ethanol (96-100%) was added and the specimens were mixed by vortexing
again and added to a spin column. The spin column was centrifuged at 6000 x g for one minute,
flow through and collection tube were discarded. The spin column was transferred to a new
collection tube, 500μl AW1 buffer was added and it was centrifuged at 6000 x g for one minute.
The spin column was again added to a new collection tube, 500μl AW2 buffer was added and it was
centrifuged at 20000 x g for three minutes. The DNA was finally eluted in 200μl elution buffer.
Bead beating
This DNA extraction method is based on physical disruption of both human and microbial cells(18). The specimens were dissolved in a mixture of lyzozyme, TE buffer, proteinase K (30mM Tris/HCl
pH 8.0; 15 mg/ml lyzozyme + 20μg/ml proteinase K) and 200μl AL buffer in an incubator at 56°C
until the mucus was completely dissolved. The specimen was then transferred to a 2 mL tube
containing 200 μl beads (Zirkonia/Silica Beads 0,1mm pk/450g, Roth, Karlsruhe,Germany, N033.1)
in AL buffer. The sample was homogenized for 70 seconds at 7000 rpm in a MagNALyser (Roche,
Hvidovre, Denmark) and then centrifuged at 30.000 x g for five minutes. The sample was
transferred to a new 1.5 mL tube and 230μl ethanol (70%) was added. The mixture was now
transferred to spin column and the extraction continued as with the Qiagen procedure.
16S rDNA qPCR
To run the 16SrDNA qPCR it was necessary to optimize the primers and PCR conditions. In our
first set up the PCR conditions were composed of:
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95°C for 10 min, 10 cycles of 95°C/15 sec., 65°C/30 sec. with a 1 °C decrement per cycle and
72°C/32 sec., 30 cycles of 95°C/15 sec., 55°C/30 sec and 72°C/32 sec., 72°C for 7 minutes, 95°C
for 15 seconds, 50°C for 1 minute, 95°C for 15 seconds and 60°C for 15 seconds.
In the next setup the PCR programmes was changed by removing the touch down sequence:
95°C for 10 min, 40 cycles of 95°C/15 sec., 55°C/30 sec and 72°C/32 sec., 72°C for 7 minutes,
95°C for 15 seconds, 50°C for 1 minute, 95°C for 15 seconds and 60°C for 15 seconds.
16S rDNA qPCR, SYBR green
Primers used for qPCR(19):
16S rDNA forward primer: CCTAYGGGRBGCASCAG
16S rDNA reverse primer: GGACTACNNGGGTATCTAAT
The standard curves were generated by analyzing 10-fold dilutions of DNA from Legionella
pneumophila containing from 10 to 100 000 genome equivalents/ µL (geq/ µL). The qPCR was
performed in a total volume of 50 μl with 5 µL template DNA in a master-mix containing:
5 µL 10X PCR buffer: 200 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.4, 500 mM KCl, as supplied with the Platinum Taq
DNA polymerase (Invitrogen); 2.5 µL 50 mM MgCl2, 1 µL 20 µM each primer, 5 µL dUTP-mix:
1.25 mM each dATP,dCTP and dGTP, 2.5 mM dUTP, 10 µL of 50% glycerol in PCR grade water,
1 µL 0.83 µM 6-carboxy-x-rhodamine (ROX) reference dye, 0.5 µL SYBR Green (Life
technologies) Diluted 1:200 in PCR grade water, 0.4 µL (2 U) Taq DNA polymerase (Platinum
Taq; Invitrogen), PCR grade water to a final volume of 45 µl
A 7500 Real-time PCR System (Applied Biosystems) was used for qPCR and all reactions were
done in duplicate. For negative control the template DNA was replaced with distilled water. The
cycling conditions were composed of 95°C for 10 min, 40 cycles of 95°C/15 sec., 55°C/30 sec and
72°C/32 sec., 72°C for 7 minutes, followed by a melt-curve analysis with 95°C for 15 seconds,
50°C for 1 minute, 95°C for 15 seconds and 60°C for 15 seconds. Data was collected at the
72°C/32 sec step and during the melting step in the melt-curve analysis.
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16SrDNA qPCR, TaqMan™ probe
In order to circumvent problems with detection of unspecific background fluorescence in the 16S
SYBR Green assay, a TaqMan probe based assay (19) was used. The standard curves were
generated by analyzing 10-fold dilutions of DNA from Legionella pneumophila containing from 10
to 100 000 genome equivalents/ µL (geq/ µL). PCR was performed in at total volume of 50 µL with
5 µL template DNA. The master-mix consisted of:
5 µL 10X PCR buffer: 200 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.4, 500 mM KCl, as supplied with the Platinum Taq
DNA polymerase (Invitrogen);
5 µL 50 mM MgCl2, 2.5 µL 20 µM each primer 16S-331F and 16S-797R, 0.4 µL 15 µM FAM-
labeled 16S-TQM-528R probe, 5 µL dUTP-mix: 1.25 mM each dATP,dCTP and dGTP, 2.5 mM
dUTP, 10 µL of 50% glycerol in PCR grade water, 1 µL 0.83 µM 6-carboxy-x-rhodamine (ROX)
reference dye, 5 µL of the appropriate dilution of IPC, 0.4 µL (2 U) Taq DNA polymerase
(Platinum Taq; Invitrogen), PCR grade water to a final volume of 45 µl
Forward primer: 16S-331F-mod TCCTRCGGGAGGCWGCAGT
Reverse primer: 16S-797R GGACTACCAGGGTATCTAATCCTGTT
Probe: 16S-TQM-528R FAM-CGTATTACCGCGGCTGCTGGCAC-BHQ1
Results
The touch down procedure in the first 16SrDNA qPCR setup resulted in amplification curves with
poor reproducibility (data not shown). The second setup with no touch down procedure improved
the results significantly.
The 16SrDNA qPCR, SYBR green results gave reason to suspect that human DNA was amplified
together with the bacterial DNA. The 16SrDNA qPCR amplicons from all analyzed samples were
run on an agarose gel. The gel showed visible smears corresponding to unspecific amplification and
some specific bands correlating to bacteria amplification. The results from the gel and the PCR did
not correlate well. For instance one sample would show a good amplification curve with a CT value
= 22 and a dissociation curve with only one peak. However, the agarose gel for the exact same
specimens showed no specific band (Figure 3).
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Figure 3: For one sample the results of 16SrDNA qPCR, SYBR green is shown: a) amlification curve, b) dissociation curve and c) agarose gel, arrow points to the specific specimen.
a
b
c
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The TaqMan probe based assay gave reliable amplification curves. However, very low CT values
corresponding to very high bacterial DNA yield, made the results difficult to analyze. Therefore, the
specimens were diluted according to their weight until the dilution correlated to a weight between
3-5.6 mg.
The 16SrDNA qPCR (TaqMan™ probe) showed a small difference in bacterial DNA yield when
comparing the two different extraction methods (table 1).
Discussion
This study examines two methods to extract bacterial DNA from cervical mucus plug specimens.
We find no differences between the two methods regarding the DNA yield. Furthermore a
16SrDNA qPCR TaqMan based assay has been optimized in order to quantify the number of
bacteria present in CMP specimens.
In the first qPCR setup a SYBR green assay was preferred since it does not have the same
limitations as a probe regarding the base pairing. We found that the setup using SYBR Green was
less reliable in the presence of large amounts of human DNA, as was the case in the CMP
specimens. This is the risk of using SYBR green in PCR reactions, since it binds to every double
stranded DNA in the specimen regardless of base pairing. In order to circumvent these problems the
16SrDNA TaqMan probe assay was used with good results that only represent amplification of
bacterial DNA.
Furthermore, our results show that the CMP contains large amounts of bacterial DNA. Therefore
specimens should be diluted during the extraction process to get reproducible results.
Genome equivalents / g CMP
Median (Inter quartile range)
Qiagen 52000 (54567)
Bead beating 54000 (24400)
Table 1: 16SrDNA qPCR (TaqMan) genome equivalents / g CMP using two different DNA extraction methods.
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Despite the fact that there was no obvious difference between the two extraction methods, the bead
beating method seems the logical choice in future studies. The bead beating method works by
physical disruption of cells, and so it might be more effective against more recalcitrant bacteria. It is
possible that the DNA yield from the two methods is alike in the amount, but different in the
composition, e.g. they might work on different types of bacteria. To investigate this, the 16SrDNA
amplicons from both techniques had to be analyzed using DNA sequencing, which is an expensive
and comprehensive technology.
In conclusion, this study explores two extraction methods of bacterial DNA from the cervical
mucus plug and finds no difference with regard to bacterial DNA yield. Future studies will
successfully be able to use these methods with subsequent PCR techniques to evaluate the bacterial
composition of the CMP. There is reason to expect that information on the microbiological flora of
the CMP may give important clues in the ongoing research on the infectious causes of preterm birth.
Resume på dansk
Slimproppen udfylder livmoderhalsen, og er således både i kontakt med vagina og livmoderen. I
den vaginale bakterieflora findes mange bakterier, der kan være skadelige, hvis de ascenderer til
barnet, hvor de kan forårsage for tidlig fødsel. Formålet med dette studie var at etablere en metode
til at ekstrahere bakterielt DNA fra slimproppen. Det bakterielle DNA kan efterfølgende bruges til
16SrDNA qPCR, som kan kvantificere mængden af bakterier i slimproppen.
To forskellige ekstraktionsmetoder blev sammenlignet på slimpropprøver fra fem forskellige
kvinder. Den ene metode, Qiagen DNA Mini Kit, beror på en silica-membran baseret teknologi
mens den anden, bead beatiing, fysisk slår cellerne i stykker. For at vurdere hvilken metode, der
frigav den største mængde bakterielt DNA blev prøverne kørt på 16SrDNA qPCR, der også blev
optimeret.
Med dette studie skabes der muligheder for mere dybdegående mikrobiologiske undersøgelser af
slimproppen med hensyn til bakterieantal og –art. Begge redskaber der er nødvendige for at
kortlægge slimproppens barrierefunktion mod ascenderende infektioner, der kan føre til for tidlig
fødsel.
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