title: Real-time PCR assay for measurement of mouse telomeres.
abstract: Measurement of telomeres by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification has been problematic due to the formation of dimers by the primers designed to hybridize to the telomere repeats. Recently, a set of primers that overcome this problem has been created and used to develop an assay to measure human telomeres by real-time quantitative PCR. We modified this assay to measure mouse telomeres. Results showed that the primers do indeed amplify mammalian telomere repeats without forming dimers. Results obtained from the real-time quantitative PCR assay of mouse DNA were similar to terminal restriction fragment analysis by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis followed by Southern hybridization. The assay performed with mouse DNA in a similar manner as it performs with human DNA. Preliminary linkage mapping suggests a gene influencing telomere length on the X chromosome. This assay will aid in the study of telomere function and importance in diseases associated with aging and cancer formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University College Station, Texas, USA. rcallicott@cvm.tamu.edu
authors.forename: Ralph J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Callicott
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Womack
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013045:Species Specificity; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics* / Q000648:ultrastructure
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers