USE OF THE SINGLE-STRAND CONFORMATION POLYMORPHISM TECHNIQUE TO DETECT LOSS OF HETEROZYGOSITY IN NEUROBLASTOMA

Human neuroblastomas are characterized by cytogenetic and molecular an alysis as frequently containing deletions of distal 1p. Loss of hetero zygosity (LOH) studies have localized a region of shared deletion to 1 p35-36.1. Using the single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) tec hnique, we developed polymorphic assays for two genes, the amiloride-s ensitive Na+/H+ antiporter (APNH) and tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2) genes, which map to this region. We used these SSCPs to detec t LOH in a panel of neuroblastomas. Allelic loss was readily detected in 8 of 39 informative tumors. The SSCP-derived LOH results were consi stent with LOH results generated from a set of distal 1p probes that i dentify restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs). The APNH lo cus could be excluded from the region of consistent deletion, but the TNFR2 locus could not be excluded. We conclude that the SSCP technique is a precise and efficient method for detecting LOH in human neoplasi a.