title: Reliable and high-throughput mutation screening for beta-thalassemia by a single-base extension/fluorescence polarization assay.
abstract: beta-thalassemia is one of the most common inherited diseases with incidence varying between 3% and 10% in the high-prevalence regions of South China. The molecular defects are mostly due to single-nucleotide substitutions, minor insertions, and deletions in the beta-globin gene. Large-scale population genetic screening combined with prenatal diagnosis is necessary for the effective prevention of this disease. We present a single base extension (SBE) method based on homogenous fluorescence polarization (FP) for simultaneous detection of the eight most common causative mutations [CDs 41-42 (-TCTT), IVS-2-654 (C-->T), -28 (A-->G), CD17 (A-->T), CD 71/72 (+A), CD26 (G-->A), -29 (A-->G), and CD43 (G-->T)] in the beta-globin gene in a Chinese population. This assay has been validated by a blind experiment with 100 clinical samples previously characterized by reverse dot-blot and direct sequencing. The results demonstrate that this high-throughput method is simple, reliable, and cost effective. We expect this approach can be used in large-scale genetic screening for beta-thalassemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, First Military Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, PR China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Hua
authors.initials: QH
authors.lastname: Mo
authors.forename: Hai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Li-Yan
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xiang-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People; D002681:China; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005454:Fluorescence Polarization; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005914:Globins