Rapid and Automated Cartridge-based Extraction of Leukocytes from Whole Blood for Microsatellite DNA Analysis by Capillary Electrophoresis

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Abstract
The human genome contains microsatellite sequences, consisting of 2- to 5-bp repeats, randomly distributed among the chromosomes. These sequences, also called short tandem repeats (STRs), have been demonstrated as important markers for disease diagnostics, genetic mapping, and human identification. The list of human hereditary diseases associated with the unusual expansion or deletion of specific microsatellite loci continues to increase. The two most understood diseases of this type are the CGG repeats in fragile-X syndrome (1) and the CAG repeats in Huntington disease (2). However, other diseases, such as cancer of the colon, head, neck, gastrointestinal track, urinary bladder, liver, lung, breast, and leukocytes [white blood cells (WBCs)], have been shown to be linked to microsatellite instability (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14).