title: Development of a high-throughput method for screening the dopamine D2 (DRD2) receptor gene polymorphisms based on the LightCycler system.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The human dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) is known to be involved in several mental disorders. A series of studies revealed that the polymorphisms *TaqIA and *C957T are linked to these disorders and might influence drug response.
  
  
  METHODS
  Screening methods were established for the *TaqIA and *C957T polymorphisms. In the past, the technique of choice has been the time and resource consuming PCR with restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). It served as the reference method for this investigation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A protocol was successfully developed for detecting *C957T and *TaqIA on the Roche LightCycler system. In addition, an allele frequency study was conducted comparing 98 samples from healthy and 86 samples from mentally disordered subjects for the *C957T and *TaqIA polymorphisms. Allele frequencies in the healthy population turned out to be 50% for the *C957T and 18% for the *TaqIA polymorphism. In the mentally disordered group, allele frequencies occurred with 54% for the *C957T and with 21% for the *TaqIA polymorphism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The protocol developed for identifying the *C957T and *TaqIA polymorphisms is suitable for high-throughput screening. Findings of the allele frequency study did not reveal any significant difference in the prevalence of the investigated polymorphisms.
authors.affiliation: PharmGenomics GmbH, Mainz, Germany. stefan.prause@pharmgenomics.com
authors.forename: Prause
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stefan
authors.forename: Eidens
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moritz
authors.forename: Weise
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Dahmen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Norbert
authors.forename: Wunsch
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Annette
authors.forename: Forst
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Pfützner
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andreas
mesh_terms: D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D025202:Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2