Detection of sickle-cell mutation by electrophoresis of partial RNA:DNA hybrids following solution hybridization

Reverse Southern hybridization

A DNA oligomer 25 nucleotides long which contained an HMT (4'-hydroxymethyl-4,5', 8-trimethylpsoralen) furan side monoadduct to thymidine at a 5'-TpA-3' site was used as a probe for the polylinker sequence present in single-stranded M13 mp19 DNA and in double-stranded pUC 19 DNA. Hybridization and photofixation were carried out simultaneously in solution under conditions approximating the melting temperature of the probe-target hybrid. Use of probe concentrations greater than 10(-8) M permitted hybridization times of a few minutes. Irradiation with near ultraviolet light converted the HMT monoadduct present in hybrid complexes into an interstrand crosslink. Efficient photofixation removed hybrid from the equilibrium distribution and resulted in the formation of additional probe-target complex. After removal of excess probe by centrifugation through a semi-permeable membrane (Centricon-30), samples were electrophoresed through an alkaline agarose gel which was analyzed by autoradiography. When using an HMT-modified 25-mer probe end-labeled with 3,000 Ci/mmole 32P, 0.015 ng (3.8 X 10(6) copies) of M13 DNA could be detected. With this same probe 10 micrograms of denatured human DNA (corresponding to 3.0 X 10(6) copies) did not give a signal.

Diagnosis of genetic disease using recombinant DNA

Recombinant DNA technology promises to make an important contribution to the analysis and diagnosis of inherited human disease. Direct detection and analysis of various genetic defects at the DNA level are now possible using cloned gene or oligonucleotide probes. In addition, the use of restriction fragment length polymorphisms associated with linked DNA segments should permit not only the diagnosis of hitherto undetectable disease states but also the chromosomal localization of the loci responsible. The eventual isolation of disease loci should lead to a better understanding of the molecular basis of inherited disease.