Alternative splicing refers to variation in the way that transcripts from a sin- gle genetic locus are processed posttranscriptionally. This phenomenon, now widely known in eukaryotic cells, was virtually unheard of 20 years ago. Understanding that higher plant and animal cells can differentially process a particular species of pre-mRNA molecules goes a long way toward explaining how a cell with approximately 20,000 different genes can encode significantly greater numbers of transcripts which, in turn, may be able to encode several hundred thousand (or more) proteins. By joining together various combinations of exons and even changing the functionality of introns, a remarkable diversity of proteins may result from a seeming economy of genomic sequences. Upon completion of the human genome project, the apparent paucity of genes came as a great surprise, given the complexity of the proteome. In the context of alternative transcript processing and posttranslational modification of proteins, the known number of genes in most species is not inconsistent with the biochemical complexity of the cell.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Bioelectronic DNA detection involves forming an electronic circuit mediated by nucleic acid hybridization and it serves as the basis for a DNA detection system called eSensor™ [1-4]. This system uses low-density DNA chips containing electrodes coated with DNA capture probes. Target DNA present in the sample hybridizes specifically both to capture probes and ferrocene labeled signal probes in solution thereby generating an electric current. Currente Sensor DNA chips contain as many as 36 electrodes for simultaneous detection of multiple pathogens from a single sample.
Many pathogens cause both acute and chronic disease at relatively low copy number and may be difficult or impossible to propagate in culture. Thus, most pathogen detection systems rely on nucleic acid amplification by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One highly effective amplification strategy targets conserved sequences among the family of organisms of interest. Such broad-range PCR strategies have been used to identify and characterize several known and previously uncharacterized bacteria [5,6] and viruses [7,8]. In order to maximize the utility of these effective pathogen nucleic acid amplification systems, amplification needs to be coupled with rapid, sensitive, and specific detection. Bioelectronic DNA detection by use of the eSensor chip might fulfill this need.
Human papillomaviruses (HPV) serve as an ideal model system for determining the efficiency and feasibility of eSensor DNA detection technology since there are at least 30 distinct genital HPV types that can be effectively amplified with broad-range consensus PCR primers. We designed two eSensor chips, each containing 14 probes specific for the conserved L1 region of the HPV genome. We evaluated clinical cervical cytology samples known to contain one or more HPV types. The eSensor DNA detection platform successfully detected the correct HPV type in most of these clinical samples, demonstrating that the system provides a rapid, sensitive, specific, and economical approach for multiple-pathogen detection and identification from a single sample.Background We used human papillomaviruses (HPV) as a model system to evaluate the utility of a nucleic acid, hybridization-based bioelectronic DNA detection platform (eSensor) in identifying multiple pathogens.