Efficient 12-mutation testing in the CFTR gene: a general model for complex mutation analysis.

The identification of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene has led to the identification of more than 225 presumed disease-causing mutations at the locus. The diagnosis of cystic fibrosis or the carrier state by direct DNA analysis is hindered by this large number. A practical assay must be able to detect enough mutations to achieve clinically significant sensitivity. The use of allele-specific oligonucleotide probes is the most promising of the available methods. However, to date this has generally involved tedious probe-by-probe hybridizations, due to variations in the oligonucleotides' denaturation temperatures caused by differences in their G-C base-pair content. We have developed a rapid, cost-effective assay that simultaneously detects 12 CFTR mutations after multiplex polymerase-chain-reaction amplification of genomic DNA. The test may be readily extended to detect additional mutations at minimal increase in the cost per test or the turnaround time. We improve specificity and avoid the need for individual hybridizations by the use of tetramethylammonium chloride to virtually eliminate the effects of G-C differences. Coupled with non-invasive sample-collection methods, this is an immediately practical assay for cystic fibrosis. More generally, it will serve as a model for the development of diagnostic tests in other genetic disorders involving complex mutation analysis.

Aetiology of congenital absence of vas deferens: genetic study of three generations.

Bilateral congenital absence of the vas deferens (CAVD) is a form of male sterility (found in otherwise normal men) of unknown aetiology. Because males with cystic fibrosis (CF) almost invariably have CAVD as well, we investigated the hypothesis that men with isolated CAVD might share a common genetic background with males with CF. Genetic testing for CF was carried out in three generations of subjects: 44 patients with CAVD and their wives, 24 of their parents, and 13 of their offspring generated by microsurgical epididymal sperm aspiration (MESA) and in-vitro fertilization (IVF). DNA extracted from peripheral lymphocytes was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and then analysed for 12 mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulatory (CFTR) gene. Among 44 patients tested with CAVD, 26 (59%) were positive for at least one CF mutation, while the carrier frequency for CF mutations in the general population is only 4%. Four patients were found to be compound heterozygotes, three with genotypes Delta F-508/R117H, one with R553X/R117H. Among 24 parents tested, 15 (seven fathers, eight mothers) had sons with CAVD who were positive for CF mutations. Of these, nine (four fathers and five mothers) were found to be carriers for CF mutations. These four fathers, although carriers of CF mutations, were obviously fertile. Of the 13 offspring tested, six (three boys and three girls) had CF positive fathers. Of these, three (two girls and one boy) were found to be carriers for CF mutations. These MESA/IVF children are the first offspring to whom men with CAVD have been able to transmit CF mutations.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Preferential loss of striato-external pallidal projection neurons in presymptomatic Huntington's disease.

We have reported previously that striatal projection neurons are differentially affected in the course of Huntington's disease, and in a prior patient report we noted that differential loss of striatal projection neurons occurs also in patients with presymptomatic Huntington's disease. Striatal neurons projecting to the external segment of the globus pallidus or the substantia nigra show evident loss, whereas those projecting to the internal segment of the globus pallidus appear relatively spared at presymptomatic and early stages of symptomatic Huntington's disease. We now report similar findings in a second apparently presymptomatic Huntington's disease allele carrier.

Generation and characterization of irradiation hybrids of human chromosome 4.

In recent years investigators have attempted to develop more rapid and precise methods to isolate specific chromosomal DNA regions. In this paper we demonstrate a modification of the method first developed by Goss and Harris for generation of irradiation hybrids. The gene encoding the dominant selectable marker for resistance to neomycin was introduced into human chromosome 4 using retroviral insertion into human fibroblasts. Transfer of these chromosomes via microcells into the mouse cell line NIH3T6 produced a somatic cell line containing chromosome 4 as the only human chromosome. Irradiation of this cell line followed by fusion with the hamster cell line CHTG49 generated hybrids containing only small portions of chromosome 4p on a hamster background. The use of selection produced stable hybrids that retained chromosome 4 fragments over long periods of tissue culture passage. To obtain new polymorphic markers for Huntington's disease, one of these hybrids was to isolate new genomic fragments. We identified 41 single-copy fragments, of which 27 have been mapped to specific regions of chromosome 4; 52% of these fragments map to the region of chromosome 4 containing the HD gene.

Monochromosomal rodent-human hybrids from microcell fusion of human lymphoblastoid cells containing an inserted dominant selectable marker.

An improved system for the production of a series of rodent-human hybrids selectively retaining single human chromosomes marked in known locations is described. Such hybrids have significant applications in gene mapping and other genetic studies. Human lymphoblastoid lines were infected with the retroviral vector SP-1, which contains the bacterial his-D gene allowing mammalian cells to grow in the presence of histidinol. Microcell fusion of the infected lymphoblastoid cells with CHO cells was used to produce hybrids containing single human chromosomes retained by histidinol selection. Hybrids containing a single human chromosome 9 and a single human chromosome 19 are described. These have been characterized cytogenetically by G-banding, in situ hybridization, and Southern blot analysis.

Isolation of microcell hybrid clones containing retroviral vector insertions into specific human chromosomes.

We sought an efficient means to introduce specific human chromosomes into stable interspecific hybrid cells for applications in gene mapping and studies of gene regulation. A defective amphotropic retrovirus was used to insert the gene conferring G418 resistance (neo), a dominant selectable marker, into the chromosomes of diploid human fibroblasts, and the marked chromosomes were transferred to mouse recipient cells by microcell fusion. We recovered five microcell hybrid clones containing one or two intact human chromosomes which were identified by karyotype and marker analysis. Integration of the neo gene into a specific human chromosome in four hybrid clones was confirmed by segregation analysis or by in situ hybridization. We recovered four different human chromosomes into which the G418 resistance gene had integrated: human chromosomes 11, 14, 20, and 21. The high efficiency of retroviral vector transformation makes it possible to insert selectable markers into any mammalian chromosomes of interest.

Analysis of human chromosome 11 by somatic cell genetics: reexamination of derivatives of human-hamster cell line J1.

Through the fusion of a CHO cell population to a human cell population, a hybrid cell line which has lost all human chromosomes except chromosome 11 was derived. This cell line, J1, does not appear to segregate human chromosome 11 during growth. A series of deletion segregants were isolated from J1 which had lost a portion of either the long, short, or both arms of chromosome 11. This panel of deletion segregants was used for mapping a number of genetic markers on the short arm of chromosome 11. Karyotypic analysis led to the interpretation that derivatives of J1 selected for the loss of cell surface antigens encoded by genes on the short arm of the chromosome had simple terminal deletions of this chromosome arm. More recently, we have applied recombinant DNA and in situ hybridization techniques to the analysis of the structure of chromosome 11. In the course of this analysis, we have obtained data that indicate that all J1 deletion segregants retain a small chromosomal segment containing the structural genes for insulin and HRAS1. Analysis of in situ hybridization data indicates that in cell lines in which a chromosome 11 fragment cannot be identified by karyotype analysis, human DNA has been translocated to a Chinese Hamster chromosome. These results suggest that the original interpretation of the karyotypes of deletion segregants derived from J1 as simple terminal deletions is not correct. A reanalysis of gene localization studies based on these deletion segregants suggests that some assignments of genes to specific bands on chromosome 11 should be reconsidered. In particular, data on additional deletion segregants are consistent with localization of the beta-globin gene complex to band 11p15. The data presented here suggest that in several hybrid derivatives of J1, a continuous DNA segment of approximately 10(7) base pairs in length which includes the insulin and HRAS1 (cellular homolog of retroviral oncogene Harvey ras) genes has been isolated from the remainder of the human genome. We propose that the stability of chromosome 11 in the original hybrid was due to complementation of a genetic defect in the original CHO cell parent by a gene located in close physical proximity to the insulin and HRAS1 genes on chromosome 11. Data are presented which test and support this hypothesis.

Cloning of human mineralocorticoid receptor complementary DNA: structural and functional kinship with the glucocorticoid receptor.

Low-stringency hybridization with human glucocorticoid receptor (hGR) complementary DNA was used to isolate a new gene encoding a predicted 107-kilodalton polypeptide. Expression studies demonstrate its ability to bind aldosterone with high affinity and to activate gene transcription in response to aldosterone, thus establishing its identity as the human mineralocorticoid receptor (hMR). This molecule also shows high affinity for glucocorticoids and stimulates a glucocorticoid-responsive promoter. Together the hMR and hGR provide unexpected functional diversity in which hormone-binding properties, target gene interactions, and patterns of tissue-specific expression may be used in a combinatorial fashion to achieve complex physiologic control.

Cell surface receptors for murine leukemia viruses: two assays and their implications.

Two assays were developed for identifying individual cells which bear murine leukemia virus receptors: an erythrocyte rosette assay for ecotropic receptors, and an efficient immune cytotoxic assay for cells with ecotropic or amphotropic receptors. Both assays indicate that ecotropic MuLV adsorbed to its cell surface receptor only slowly becomes internalized. Furthermore, attempts to isolate murine fibroblast variants lacking these ecotropic MuLV receptors were unsuccessful, suggesting either that mutations in the receptor gene are rare (less than 10(-7) per generation) or that the receptor is required for cell viability. These assays are rapid and can be used to identify receptor-bearing cells in mixed populations, a prerequisite for molecular genetic studies.