title: Betaine improves the PCR amplification of GC-rich DNA sequences.
abstract: Betaine improves the co-amplification of the two alternatively spliced variants of the prostate-specific membrane antigen mRNA as well as the amplification of the coding cDNA region of c-jun. It is suggested that betaine improves the amplification of these genes by reducing the formation of secondary structure caused by GC-rich regions and, therefore, may be generally applicable to ameliorate the amplification of GC-rich DNA sequences.
authors.affiliation: Research Division of the Department of Urology, University Hospital Charité, Humboldt University, D-10098 Berlin, Germany. henke@rz.charite.hu-berlin.de
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Henke
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Herdel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schnorr
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Loening
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D001622:Betaine; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016758:Genes, jun; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000235:genetics; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D001622:Betaine; D004247:DNA; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen