Locked nucleic acids can enhance the analytical performance of quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction.

ABSTRACT: Aberrant DNA methylation of tumor suppressor genes is a frequent epigenetic event that occurs early in tumor progression. Real-time quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (QMSP) assays can provide accurate detection and quantitation of methylated alleles that may be potentially useful in diagnosis and risk assessment for cancer. Development of QMSP requires optimization to maximize analytical specificity and sensitivity for the detection of methylated alleles. However, in some cases challenges encountered in primer and probe design can make optimization difficult and limit assay performance. Locked nucleic acids (LNAs) demonstrate increased affinity and specificity for their cognate DNA sequences. In this proof-of-principle study, LNA residues were incorporated into pr

SUBMITTER: Gustafson KS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2175541 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature