Uninterruptible Power Supply Improves Precision and External Validity of Telomere Length Measurement via qPCR

• Published in: Experimental Results Vol. 1
• Main Authors: Hastings, Waylon J, Eisenberg, Dan T A, Shalev, Idan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 01-01-2020
• Subjects: assay precision; Efficiency; Power supply; qPCR; Ratios; Sample size; Standard deviation; telomere length; Validity; qPCR; telomere length; assay precision; power supply
• ISSN: 2516-712X; 2516-712X
• DOI: 10.1017/exp.2020.58

Technical challenges associated with telomere length (TL) measurements have prompted concerns regarding their utility as a biomarker of aging. Several factors influence TL assessment
qPCR, the most common measurement method in epidemiological studies, including storage conditions and DNA extraction method. Here, we tested the impact of power supply during the qPCR assay. Momentary fluctuations in power can affect the functioning of high-performance electronics, including real-time thermocyclers. We investigated if mitigating these fluctuations by using an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) influenced TL assessment
qPCR. Samples run with a UPS had significantly lower standard deviation (
< 0.001) and coefficient of variation (
< 0.001) across technical replicates than those run without a UPS. UPS usage also improved exponential amplification efficiency at the replicate, sample, and plate levels. Together these improvements translated to increased performance across metrics of external validity including correlation with age, within-person correlation across tissues, and correlation between parents and offspring.