Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Dystrophin gene is X-linkage recessive heredity nerve-muscle system disease. Dystrophin gene deletions cluster in two hotspot regions, comprising exons 2-20 and 44-53. The majority of deletions can be detected by examining only a subset of exons. However, little is known regarding systematic detection of 18 common deletion exons of dystrophin gene.
OBJECTIVE: To obtain and identify the cloning of 18 deletion-prone exons of dystrophin gene.
METHODS: A total of 18 fragments of dystrophin gene were obtained through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification with human genomic DNA as template and 18 pairs of primers respectively. The fragments were connected with pGEM-T Easy vector. The recombinants were transformed into E.coli JM109 competent cells, followed by planted on Luria-Bertani (LB)/ampicillin(Amp)/isopropylthio-β-D-galactoside(IPTG)/X-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-β-D-galactoside (X-Gal) plates and cultured. Positive transformants were selected with blue/white color screening, and the recombinant plasmids DNA was extracted and digested with restriction enzyme Not I. DNA sequences of the fragments were analyzed. Nucleotide analyses were performed through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Basic Local Alighment Search Tool (BLAST) against GenBank.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Size of the18 fragments by PCR amplification was in accordance with anticipation. Size of the fragments of recombinant cloning by Not I digestion was in accordance with that of PCR and expectation. Sequence size of the 18 cloned fragments was in accordance with expectation. The cloned fragments have high homology with dystrophin gene through NCBI BLAST against GenBank. These cloned fragments were the main deletion-prone exons of dystrophin gene.