Improved method for detecting mutant DNAs (10/20/2011)
Molecular DNA testing methods offer clinicians powerful tools that serve to confirm or identify disease diagnoses. High sensitivity and high specificity, however, are frequently a challenge to achieve with these methods. In a study scheduled for publication in the November issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, researchers describe a new, robust technique that holds promise for identifying trace mutant DNA sequences (signals) in an overwhelming population of unmutated DNA (noise).
A group of researchers in Korea describe a simple and inexpensive enrichment technique that they have termed mutant enrichment with 3′-modified oligonucleotides (MEMO). This oligonucleotide blocks extension of the normal gene but enables extension of the mutated gene, allowing for increased detection sensitivity.
"The potential applications of MEMO include all situations in which minority alleles of clinical significance are present and sensitive detection is required," commented lead investigators Seung-Tae Lee MD, PhD, and Chang-Seok Ki, MD, PhD, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Genetics, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. "In addition to the application of MEMO to detect cancer mutations, it can be used in other situations, such as variant strain identification in infectious diseases (for example, the YMDD mutation in hepatitis B virus infection and antiviral drug-resistant variants in human immunodeficiency virus infection), minor mutant allele detection in patients with low-level somatic mosaicism or mitochondrial heteroplasmy, and characterization of fetal mutations from maternal plasma samples."
Using genomic DNA extracted from cancer-derived cell lines containing EGFR, BRAF, JAK2, TP53, or KRAS mutations and from a bone marrow sample containing an NPM1 mutation, the authors were able to demonstrate significant sensitivity to these mutations.
Compared to preexisting methods, MEMO was shown to provide an improved diagnostic performance so that the method can be easily applicable in various medical fields, where molecular assays are important for disease diagnosis or treatment monitoring, and thus may help to improve patient outcomes.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by the Elsevier Health Sciences
Post Comments:
| 
Subscribe
Tiny water creepy crawlies from South Korea and the Russian Far East
NASA satellite data helps pinpoint glaciers' role in sea level rise
Weather on the outer planets only goes so deep
Shattering the endurance record for small electric UAV
But what does it do?
Artificial forest for solar water-splitting
Sea level influenced tropical climate during the last ice age
World's smallest droplets
Using clay to grow bone
Grammar errors? The brain detects them even when you are unaware
Principles of locomotion in confined spaces could help robot teams work underground
Researchers perform fastest measurements ever made of ion channel proteins
Ultraresponsive magnetic nanoscavengers for next generation water purification
Do potatoes grow on vines? A review of the wild relatives of some favorite food plants
New discovery of ancient diet shatters conventional ideas of how agriculture emerged
Untangling the tree of life
More effective, cheaper concrete manufactured with ash from olive residue biomass
Seahorse's armor gives engineers insight into robotics designs
New quantitative analysis for open source software projects
High-volume Bitcoin exchanges less likely to fail, but more likely breached, says study
Computer scientists develop video game that teaches how to program in Java
Do palm trees hold the key to immortality?
Researchers show how we can do math problems unconsciously
Keep moving and have fun
New strategy for fingerprint visualization developed at Hebrew University
Children's bicycle helmets shown to be effective in impact and crush tests
How Usain Bolt can run faster -- effortlessly
Enhancing cognition in older adults also changes personality
DNA-guided assembly yields novel ribbon-like nanostructures
Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA
What is the role of double-stranded RNA in antiviral host defense systems?
Mining the botulinum genome
Sacred lotus genome sequence enlightens scientists