Mutational scanning of large genes by extensive PCR multiplexing and two-dimensional electrophoresis: application to the RB1 gene
Mutational scanning of large genes by extensive PCR multiplexing and two-dimensional electrophoresis: application to the RB1 geneNathalie J. Van Orsouw1, Daizong Li1, Pieter van der Vlies2, Hans Scheffer2, Charis Eng3, Charles H. C. M. Buys2, Frederick P. Li3 and Jan Vijg1,*
1Molecular Genetics Section, Gerontology Division, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School, 330 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA, 2University of Groningen, Department of Medical Genetics, Antonius Deusinglaan 4, 9713 AW Groningen, The Netherlands and 3Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Control, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Received December 26, 1995;Revised and Accepted March 11, 1996
With the rapid increase in the number of identified human disease genes, the development of accurate and cost-efficient mutation tests has become opportune. Here we present a combination of extensive PCR multiplexing and two-dimensional (2-D) DNA electrophoresis to screen for mutations in 26 exons of the retinoblastoma (RB1) tumor suppressor gene. In 2-D electrophoresis, fragments are separated according to size and base pair sequence in non-denaturing and denaturing gradient gels, respectively. All target fragments, designed to have optimal melting characteristics, were prepared in a two-step PCR (a 6-plex long-PCR pre-amplification and a subsequent 25-plex short-PCR) followed by heteroduplexing. The mixture of PCR amplicons was then subjected to 2-D electrophoresis under a single set of experimental conditions. With this design, 35 previously identified mutations in 18 different exons were detected in 33 bilateral retinoblastoma patients. These results suggest that 2-D electrophoresis in this format provides a generally applicable, practical and fast way to diagnose with high accuracy large genes for a broad spectrum of possible disease-causing mutations.
The large size of some human disease genes in combination with a large number of distinct disease-causing mutations essentially constrains the identification of the precise molecular alterations underlying disease phenotypes, in particular in population-based studies. Examples of disease genes difficult to access by current methods of DNA diagnosis are the retinoblastoma (RB1) gene (1 ), the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene (2 ,3 ), the mismatch repair genes hMSH2, hMLH1, PMS1 and PMS2 involved in colon cancer (4 ,5 ) and the breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility (BRCA1) gene (6 ). Such genes, alone or in combination, can only be scanned for all possible mutations at high costs or, alternatively, they can be screened for a limited number of mutations. The latter has become common practice in, for example, cystic fibrosis diagnosis (7 ).
Before gene mutational scanning on a routine basis becomes practical, there are a number of technical issues to address, involving both template preparation and the actual mutation scanning. Template preparation is performed most conveniently by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. Using primers encompassing the target sequences (usually exons, splice sites and the promoter region), sufficient DNA template can be obtained for performing most of the currently used mutation assays, including direct sequencing, without the need for using radioactivity. However, when large genes or multiple genes are involved, the numerous different PCR reactions necessary to prepare the mutational target fragments make the test labor intensive and complex. The need to perform multiple PCR reactions per sample also requires much patient material. For these reasons, PCR multiplexing is used to amplify fragments at different loci simultaneously in the same PCR reaction tube. The design of a set of conditions that allows multiplexing of a large number of gene fragments is not trivial. Indeed, many multiplex PCRs have been described, but most involve less than five fragments. Exceptions are the multiplex sets of nine fragments for the dystrophin gene (8 ,9 ).
The second major issue in gene mutational scanning of large genes involves the availability of relatively simple and inexpensive technology for detecting all possible mutational changes in a given fragment. Since gene diagnosis by sequencing on a large scale is not yet cost-efficient, other methods such as single strand conformation polymorphism analysis (SSCP), heteroduplex analysis and denaturing gradient gel electrophoretic analysis (DGGE) are presently being employed (10 ). Of these systems, DGGE is generally considered the best approach (11 -13 ). In order to apply DGGE in the most optimal way, there are strict limitations regarding the choice of PCR primers. Primers must be selected in such a way that the resulting fragment has a GC-rich `clamp' attached to one end of the PCR product with the target sequence itself as one lower melting domain (14 -16 ). The design of suitable primers that fulfil criteria for both DGGE and PCR (including multiplexing) is often far from easy, if not impossible.
In previous work, we have demonstrated the feasibility of two-dimensional (2-D) DNA analysis as a comprehensive method for mutation scanning (17 ) and presented a new extensive PCR multiplexing design for preparing DGGE-optimized target sequences (18 ). Here we describe the combined utilization of extensive PCR multiplexing and 2-D DNA electrophoresis for the efficient and accurate detection of mutations in a large disease gene. As a model gene, we selected the RB1 tumor suppressor gene. The RB1 gene is an example of a large gene (180 388 bp) that has been sequenced in its entirety (19 ). However, its sequence integrity is difficult to evaluate in population-based studies because of the broad spectrum of possible mutations and polymorphisms. Primers that satisfy both PCR and DGGE criteria appeared to be difficult to design (20 ). Indeed, even PCR multiplexing without the need for optimal melting behavior is not easy. A multiplex group of seven fragments at most has been described for this gene (21 ). The multiplex-PCR/2-D DNA electrophoresis system presented here essentially solved these problems for the RB1 gene and can be implemented in routine mutational scanning of other genes for which a comparable design can be made.
Figure 1 shows the design of the 2-D gene scanning test for the RB1 gene. In a situation optimal for mutational scanning of large genes, all relevant regions should be recovered in one and the same PCR reaction, followed by automatic 2-D separation in a pattern that would reveal all possible mutations as positional shifts of the spots representing the target fragments. Our aim was to approach this situation as closely as possible. First, all exon-containing genomic sequences were amplified simultaneously in a multiplex of six amplicons by long-PCR. Primers for the long-PCR were positioned to obtain all target regions in the smallest possible number of fragments that can still be amplified through long-PCR, i.e. up to at least 20 kb (TaKaRa LA PCR Kit. Product Insert; 22 ). Multiplexing of the six different long-PCR reactions into one single reaction was not a problem. Ample margin for adjustment of primer position was available. The overrepresentation of the RB1 exon-containing fragments relative to all other genomic DNA, resulting from this pre-amplification step, greatly increased the flexibility in experimental design of a multiplex system. Moreover, it allows one to focus almost exclusively on optimization of the melting behavior of the eventual DGGE target sequences; PCR conditions are highly permissive with the pre-specified long-PCR products as template (18 ). Thus, using the long-PCR fragments as template, primers for short-PCR were selected to yield fragments of between 100 and 600 bp, the optimal size for detecting mutations by DGGE (23 ). A total of 25 fragments (exons 15 and 16 were contained in one fragment) were specified, most of which comprised only one melting domain with lower melting temperature than the GC-clamp attached to it (15 ). All amplicons designed for the RB1 gene are listed, with their corresponding long-PCR fragments, in Table 1 . Optimal melting behavior was determined for each candidate target sequence by using a computer program (MELT87; 24 ). Of the entire RB1 coding region, only exon 1 was left out in view of its high GC content. This exon can be analyzed separately under another set of conditions (results not shown).
Figure 2 A shows the theoretically predicted (on the basis of the known sizes and calculated melting temperatures) fragment positions in the 2-D gel under the electrophoretic conditions specified, as compared with a typical empirical 2-D pattern obtained from a normal control DNA sample (Fig. 2 B). The melting program was found to predict the spot positions rather accurately. In this pattern, polymorphisms were observed in the fragment representing exons 15/16 and in exon 17. Both polymorphisms are known and have been found also by sequence analysis (P. van der Vlies, unpublished results). (The characteristic 3- or 4-spot patterns of heterozygous mutations are discussed below.) One aspect that should be noted is the variation in spot intensity. Some attempts to obtain spots of equal intensities by modifying experimental conditions suggest that this situation can be improved. However, unequal spot intensities did not pose a problem in accurate mutation detection.
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