The analogue of thymidine triphosphate containing a methylene group in place of the 5' oxygen can serve as a substrate for reverse transcriptase.

The thymidine 5'-triphosphate analogue containing a methylene group in place of the 5' oxygen atom can be prepared using modifications of published procedures and can substitute for the natural thymidine triphosphate in chain extension reactions catalyzed by Moloney-MLV reverse transcriptase. Using rabbit beta-globin mRNA as the template together with an appropriate primer, the enzyme readily makes full-length DNA transcripts in which all thymidine 5' oxygen atoms have been replaced with methylene groups. In sequence analyses using the partial depurination procedure, the analogue DNA transcript produces electrophoretic gel patterns identical with those of the corresponding natural DNA transcript.

The immunohistochemical detection of mismatch repair gene proteins (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2): practical aspects in antigen retrieval and biotin blocking protocols.

The immunohistochemical detection of the mismatch repair (MMR) proteins is used as a screening test with microsatellite instability for the detection of hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC). The authors describe a simple and cost-effective method using a pressure cooker and microwave oven for antigen retrieval and a modified method for applying a commercial biotin blocking kit. Colorectal tumors of 20 patients of the HNPCC spectrum were included in this study.

Synthesis and properties of adenosine oligonucleotide analogues containing methylene groups in place of phosphodiester 5'-oxygens.

The ADP analogue in which the 5'-oxygen has been replaced by a methylene group can be prepared by condensing 5'-deoxy-5'-phosphonomethyladenosine with inorganic phosphate. This analogue readily polymerizes onto the primer A-A in the presence of the enzyme polynucleotide phosphorylase and either Mg2+ or Mn2+. The initial products are of the form A-A(-cA)n-cA (where "-" and "-c" stand for the normal phosphodiester linkage and the linkage in which the 5'-oxygen is replaced with the methylene group, respectively).