A systematic evaluation is currently lacking, despite its importance

in diagnostics and research. The detection limits reported are a compound of analytical software and laboratory techniques and do not account for the number of probes in relation to sample homogeneity.\n\nDetection limits were explored with DNA isolated from a patient with intellectual disability (ID) and from tumor cell line BT474. Both were diluted with increasing amounts of normal DNA to simulate different levels of cellularity. Samples were hybridized on microarrays containing 180,880 oligonucleotides evenly distributed over the genome (spacing similar to 17 kb).\n\nSingle copy number alterations, represented by down to 249 probes (4 Mb) and present in 10 % of a cell population, could be detected. Alterations encompassing as few as 14 probes (similar to 238 Kb) could also find more be detected, but for this a 35 % mosaic level was required.\n\nDNA copy number alterations can be detected in cell populations containing 10 % abnormal cells. Detection of sub-megabase alterations requires a higher percentage of abnormal cells or microarrays with a higher probe density.”
“Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is caused by a defective low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR),

and >1000 mutations in LDLR have been identified. However, in some patients with clinically defined FH, no mutation can be detected within the exons and adjacent intronic segments Selleck Z-DEVD-FMK of the LDLR. We have analyzed RNA extracted from blood samples of patients with clinically defined FH and identified an aberrantly spliced mRNA containing an 81-bp insert from intron 14. The aberrant splicing was caused by a novel intronic mutation, c.2140+86C>G, which activated a cryptic splice site. Although the cryptic splice site does not completely surpass the normal splice site, the mutation was found to cosegregate

with high cholesterol levels in a family, this website which supports the notion that c.2140+86C>G causes FH. The insertion of 81 bp in LDLR mRNA encodes an in-frame insertion of 27 amino acids in the LDLR. However, the insertion was found to hamper LDLR activity by preventing the receptor from leaving the endoplasmic reticulum, probably because of misfolding of the protein. In patients with clinically defined hypercholesterolemia, despite normal results from sequencing of exonic regions of the LDLR gene, characterization of the LDLR mRNA might identify the underlying genetic defect. Journal of Human Genetics (2010) 55, 676-680; doi:10.1038/jhg.2010.87; published online 12 August 2010″
“Purpose. To explore patient and nurse satisfaction, compliance with best practice, technical feasibility and safety of home infusion of a bisphosphonate. Methods. Prospective 1-year survey of home zoledronic acid therapy (4 mg, 15-min intraveinous, every three to four weeks) in patients with bone metastases secondary to a solid malignancy.