Ultrafast haplotyping of putative microRNA-binding sites in the WFS1 gene by multiplex polymerase chain reaction and capillary gel electrophoresis.

The transmembrane protein wolframin (WSF1) plays a crucial role in cell integrity in pancreatic beta cells and maintaining ER homeostasis. Genetic variations in the WFS1 gene have been described to be associated with Wolfram syndrome or type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this paper we report on an efficient double-tube allele-specific amplification method in conjunction with ultrafast capillary gel electrophoresis for direct haplotyping analysis of the SNPs in two important miRNA-binding sites (rs1046322 and rs9457) in the WFS1 gene. An automated single-channel capillary gel electrophoresis system was utilized in the method that provided dsDNA fragment analysis in less than 240 s. The light-emitting diode induced fluorescence (LEDIF) detection system enabled excellent sensitivity for automated haplotyping of a large number of clinical samples. The detection limit was 0.002 ng/μL using field amplified injection from water diluted samples. The dynamic quantitation range was 0.08-10.00 ng/μL (R(2)=0.9997) in buffer diluted samples

Genotyping and haplotyping of the dopamine D4 receptor gene by capillary electrophoresis

In this paper we report on simultaneous genotyping of adjacent polymorphisms (referred to as haplotyping) by combining double-tube allele-specific polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length polymorphism and capillary gel electrophoresis analysis of the resulting fragments. Direct molecular haplotyping is of particular importance in the case of double heterozygote samples, since in these instances the haplotype structure cannot be constructed based on genotype data. Our approach provided a powerful tool for coincidental genotype analysis of the 48 base pair (bp) variable number of tandem repeats of the third exon and haplotype investigation of the -616CG and -521CT single nucleotide polymorphisms of the dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) gene. The linear polyacrylamide sieving matrix was optimized for the size range of the double-stranded DNA fragments of interest varying from 35 to 763 bp. We demonstrated that capillary gel electrophoresis in combination with laser induced fluorescence detection offers a sensitive and accurate tool for automated haplotyping in clinical settings

Frequency of diarrhoea-associated viruses in swine of various ages in Hungary

Enteric viral diseases of swine are one of the most frequent disorders causing huge economic losses in pork production. After the reappearance of an emerging enteropathogen, porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) in Hungary in 2016, an extensive survey was initiated in an attempt to identify diarrhoea-related porcine viruses, including adeno-, astro-, boca-, calici-, circo-, corona-, kobu-, rota- and Torque teno viruses. A total of 384 faecal samples collected during a twoyear period from diarrhoeic and asymptomatic pigs of various ages in 17 farms were screened by conventional and real-time PCR methods. Half of the samples contained at least one examined virus with the dominance of kobuvirus (55.1%) followed by bocaviruses (33.2%) and rotavirus groups A and C together (20.9%), while coronaviruses including PEDV were not found in this set of samples. Statistical analysis showed a highly significant difference (P < 0.0001) in the frequency of single infections compared to mixed ones with the exception of weaned pigs, in which group additionally most viruses were detected. The results of this study suggest that the complexity of this disease may vary with age, which makes the prevention of diarrhoea a challenge, especially in weaned pigs

High Throughput Multiplex SNP-analysis In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Lung Cancer

Background A number of human inflammatory diseases and tumors have been shown to cause alterations in the glycosylation pattern of plasma proteins in a specific manner. These highly variable and versatile post-translational modifications fine-tune protein functions by influencing sorting, folding, enzyme activity and subcellular localization. However, relatively little is known about regulatory factors of this procedure and about the accurate causative connection between glycosylation and disease. Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate whether certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding glycosyltransferases and glycosidases could be associated with elevated risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung adenocarcinoma. Methods A total of 32 SNPs localized in genes related to N-glycosylation were selected for the association analysis. Polymorphisms with putative biological functions (missense or regulatory variants) were recruited. SNPs were genotyped by a TaqMan OpenArray platform. A single base extension based method in combination with capillary gel electrophoresis was used for verification. Results The TaqMan OpenArray approach provided accurate and reliable genotype data (global call rate: 94.9%, accuracy: 99.6%). No significant discrepancy was detected between the obtained and expected genotype frequency values (Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium) in the healthy control sample group in case of any SNP confirming reliable sampling and genotyping. Allele frequencies of the rs3944508 polymorphism localized in the 3’ UTR of the MGAT5 gene significantly differed in the sample groups compared. Conclusion Our results suggest that the rs34944508 SNP might modulate the risk for lung cancer by influencing the expression of MGAT5. This enzyme catalyzes the addition of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) in beta 1-6 linkage to the alpha-linked mannose of biantennary N-linked oligosaccharides, thus, increases branching that characteristic for invasive malignancies