Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41570063›Full record

ArticleBioinformatics (Oxford, England)2026

diffMONT: predicting methylation-specific PCR biomarkers based on nanopore sequencing data for clinical application.

Daria Meyer, Emanuel Barth, Laura Wiehle, Manja Marz

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Bioinformatics (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Daria MeyerRNA Bioinformatics and High-Throughput Analysis, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-2006-4610
Emanuel BarthRNA Bioinformatics and High-Throughput Analysis, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.
Laura WiehleOncgnostics GmbH, Jena 07749, Germany.
Manja MarzRNA Bioinformatics and High-Throughput Analysis, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena 07743, Germany.

Funding

Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftExcellence Strategy-EXC 390713860Ministry for Economics, Sciences and Digital Society of Thuringia (TMWWDG) DigLeben-5575/10-9NFDI4Microbiota 28/1oncgnostics GmbH
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

motivationDNA methylation serves as a key biomarker in clinical diagnostics, especially in cancer detection. With methylation-specific PCR (MSP), a widely used approach, patient samples can be screened fast and efficiently for differential methylation. During MSP, methylated regions are selectively amplified with specific primers. With nanopore sequencing, knowledge about DNA methylation is generated during direct DNA sequencing without needing pretreatment of the DNA. Multiple methods, mainly developed for whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) data, exist to predict differentially methylated regions (DMRs) in the genome. However, the predicted DMRs are often very large and not sufficiently discriminating to generate meaningful results in MSP, creating a gap between theoretical cancer marker research and practical application, as no tool currently provides methylation difference predictions tailored for PCR-based diagnostics.

resultsHere, we present diffMONT, a tool that predicts differentially methylated regions specifically suited for MSP primer design, enabling rapid translation into practical applications. diffMONT takes into account (i) the specific length of primer and amplicon regions, (ii) the fact that one condition should be unmethylated, and (iii) a minimal required amount of differentially methylated cytosines within the primer regions. We compared the results of diffMONT to metilene and DSS based on a publicly available nanopore sequencing dataset and show that the regions predicted by diffMONT are more specific toward hypermethylated regions. diffMONT accelerates the design of methylation-specific diagnostic assays, bridging the gap between theoretical research and clinical application. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The source code for diffMONT, an open-source Python-based tool, is available at https://github.com/rnajena/diffMONT/, with an archived release under https://zenodo.org/records/17641031.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorDNA MethylationNanopore SequencingPolymerase Chain ReactionSoftwareHumansNeoplasmsSequence Analysis, DNABiomarkers, Tumor

Identifiers

PMID41570063
PMCPMC12881825

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.