Molecular Analysis of Spinal Muscular Atrophy: a genotyping protocol based on TaqMan® real-time PCR

Genetics and Molecular Biology

Fernanda Marques De Souza Godinho¹  Hugo Bock¹  Tailise Conte Gheno¹  Maria Luiza Saraiva-pereira¹ 

[1] ,Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre Centro de Pesquisa Experimental Serviço de Genética Médica RS ,Brazil

关键词: SMA;    SMN1 gene;    gene conversion;    molecular analysis;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1415-47572012000600010

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive inherited disorder caused by alterations in the survival motor neuron I (SMN1) gene. SMA patients are classified as type I-IV based on severity of symptoms and age of onset. About 95% of SMA cases are caused by the homozygous absence of SMN1 due to gene deletion or conversion into SMN2. PCR-based methods have been widely used in genetic testing for SMA. In this work, we introduce a new approach based on TaqMan® real-time PCR for research and diagnostic settings. DNA samples from 100 individuals with clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of SMA were analyzed. Mutant DNA samples as well as controls were confirmed by DNA sequencing. We detected 58 SMA cases (58.0%) by showing deletion of SMN1 exon 7. Considering clinical information available from 56 of them, the patient distribution was 26 (46.4%) SMA type I, 16 (28.6%) SMA type II and 14 (25.0%) SMA type III. Results generated by the new method was confirmed by PCR-RFLP and by DNA sequencing when required. In conclusion, a protocol based on real-time PCR was shown to be effective and specific for molecular analysis of SMA patients.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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