Rapid and Sensitive Assay of Mutations in Pancreatic Cancer by Electrochemical Detection with Ferrocenyl-naphthalene-diimide.

The DNA chip is a very powerful tool for genetic analysis. Conventional DNA chips that utilize fluorescence detection systems are very complicated, expensive and impractical, but the electrochemical array (ECA) chip is gaining popularity. To investigate the validity of the ECA chip, which utilizes ferrocenyl-naphthalene-diimide (FND), k-ras mutations in 20 pancreatic cancer tissues were examined.

A novel method of identifying genetic mutations using an electrochemical DNA array.

We describe the development of a new type of DNA array chip that utilizes electrochemical reactions and a novel method of simultaneously identifying multiple genetic mutations on an array chip. The electrochemical array (ECA) uses a threading intercalator specific to double-stranded nucleotides, ferrocenylnaphthalene diimide (FND), as the indicator. ECA does not require target labeling, and the equipment is simple, durable and less expensive.

An Ets transcription factor, HrEts, is target of FGF signaling and involved in induction of notochord, mesenchyme, and brain in ascidian embryos.

In ascidian embryos, a fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signal induces notochord, mesenchyme, and brain formation. Although a conserved Ras/MAPK pathway is known to be involved in this signaling, the target transcription factor of this signaling cascade has remained unknown. We have isolated HrEts, an ascidian homolog of vertebrate Ets1 and Ets2, to elucidate the transcription factor involved in the FGF signaling pathway in embryos of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi.

Expression pattern and transcriptional control of SoxB1 in embryos of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi.

The Sox family is a large group of transcription factors that are characterized by the presence of a DNA-binding HMG domain. We isolated HrSoxB1, an ascidian homolog of the Sox gene that belongs to the B1 subclass of the Sox family, from Halocynthia roretzi. Expression was initiated as early as the 8-cell stage.

Repression of zygotic gene expression in the putative germline cells in ascidian embryos.

In germline cells of early C. elegans and Drosophila embryos, repression of zygotic gene expression appears to be essential to maintain the germ cell fate. In these animals, specific residues in the carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) of RNA polymerase II large subunit (RNAP II LS) are dephosphorylated in the germline cells, whereas they are phosphorylated in the somatic cells.

Isolation of cDNA clones for mRNAs transcribed zygotically during cleavage in the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi.

The ascidian larva consists of a relatively small number of different cell types, and the cell lineages during embryogenesis have been well described. The clonal restriction of developmental fate takes place considerably early in development. The fates of most of the blastomeres become tissue-restricted by the 110-cell stage, just before the onset of gastrulation.

Expression of a Gene for Major Mitochondrial Protein, ADP/ATP Translocase, during Embryogenesis in the Ascidian Halocynthia roretzi: (Ascidian embryos/ADP/ATP translocase gene/maternal mRNA/mitochondria).

The ADP/ATP translocase is the most abundant integral protein of the inner mitochondrial membrane and it is encoded by the nuclear DNA. Because mitochondria in the ascidian egg appear to be segregated into blastomeres of muscle lineage, we examined the expression of a gene for ADP/ATP translocase during embryogenesis of the ascidian Halocynthia roretzi. Sequence analysis of a cDNA clone for the ascidian ADP/ATP translocase indicated that it contains a single open reading frame that encodes a polypeptide of 304 amino acids.