Nanopore Sequencing Identification of DNA Aristolochic Acid Adducts

These deviations were accompanied by changes in base-calling outcomes, including elevated error-specific base (ESB) values, increased odds ratios, and reduced base-calling quality scores (Q-scores), collectively forming a multidimensional signature associated with adduct presence. Building on these observations, we further explored a signal-based analytical approach to identify characteristic signal changes associated with the adduct directly from normalized signal levels.

Our results show that nanopore sequencing can detect and localize a site-specifically incorporated AL-II-dA adduct in a defined sequence context through characteristic deviations in normalized signal levels, dwell time, and base-calling features. This study supports the potential of nanopore sequencing as a new approach for investigating DNA-adduct-associated signal characteristics.