DIAGNOSIS OF NEUROFIBROMATOSIS-I BY USING TIGHTLY LINKED, FLANKING DNA MARKERS

  • 1 May 1990
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 46  (5) , 943-949
Abstract
We tested 132 individuals from 21 families segregating an allele for neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1), by using nine RFLPs tightly linked to the NF-1 locus. Family members had requested DNA testing either to determine whether "at risk" children were carrying the NF-1 allele or to determine whether their respective families would be informative for prenatal testing. Predictions about whether a child carries the NF-1 mutation were possible for all 32 at-risk offspring (> 98% accuracy based on the recombination estimates currently available for these DNA markers). At least one informative probe was available for all 23 matings in these 21 families; flanking markers were informative for 10 matings. Pairwise analysis showed that several of the polymorphisms were in tight linkage disequilibrium; few recombination events were observed with these markers in the families under study. We concldue that the DNA probes used in this study perform well for diagnostic testing of NF-1 in familial cases. A subset of five probe-enzyme systems (pHHH202/RsaI, p11-3C4.2/MspI, pTH17.19/BglII, p11-2C11.7/BamHI, and p11-2F9.8/TaqI) provide reliable linkage information for both clinical testing and prenatal diagnosis.