Fluorescence polarization in homogeneous nucleic acid analysis II: 5'-nuclease assay.

When the temperature and viscosity of the solvent is held constant, the degree of fluorescence polarization (FP) detected when a fluorescent dye is excited by plane polarized light depends mostly on the molecular weight of the dye molecule. By monitoring the FP of a fluorescent dye molecule, one can detect significant changes in the molecular weight of a fluorescent molecule without separation or purification. The 5'-nuclease (TaqMan) assay is a robust single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping method where an allele-specific probe that binds to a perfectly complementary target is cleaved by the 5'-nuclease activity of Taq DNA polymerase.

Juxtaposed regions of extensive and minimal linkage disequilibrium in human Xq25 and Xq28.

Linkage disequilibrium (LD), or the non-random association of alleles, is poorly understood in the human genome. Population genetic theory suggests that LD is determined by the age of the markers, population history, recombination rate, selection and genetic drift. Despite the uncertainties in determining the relative contributions of these factors, some groups have argued that LD is a simple function of distance between markers.

The homozygous complete hydatidiform mole: a unique resource for genome studies.

The most frequent type of complete hydatidiform mole is a 46, XX homozygote formed by the fertilization of an empty ovum by a single haploid sperm that later duplicates its chromosomes to give a diploid tumor. The homozygous nature of these complete hydatidiform moles makes them unique resources for human genome studies. They can serve as homozygous controls in the development of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and provide a way to obtain long-range haplotypes that are useful in population studies.

Improved enzyme immunosorbent assay for mouse prolactin using penicillinase as label.

Enzyme immunosorbent assay (EIA) for mouse prolactin was established by modifying a method originally developed for human prolactin by Shrivastav et al. This simple, sensitive, rapid, and reproducible assay utilizes penicillinase as the labeling enzyme, rabbit anti-mouse prolactin antibody (Ab) and goat anti-rabbit Ig Ab as the first and second antibodies. Prolactin reference preparations and enzyme-conjugated prolactin were mixed with the first Ab and incubated for 0.

Calorie consumption level influences development of C3H/Ou breast adenocarcinoma with indifference to calorie source.

To analyze simultaneously the influence attributable to calorie consumption level and percentage of dietary fat on the spontaneous development of mammary adenocarcinoma, virgin female C3H/Ou mice were separated into five dietary groups. Four groups of mice were fed purified diets either ad libitum (16-18 kcal/mouse/day) or restricted 40% in calorie consumption (10-11 kcal/mouse/day), and diets contained either 4.5%, 7.