CHARACTERIZATION OF DNA EXTRACTED FROM ARCHIVAL CELLOIDIN-EMBEDDED HUMAN TEMPORAL BONE SECTIONS

The focus of the present investigation was to study, via molecular bio logy techniques, the character of the DNA present in individual archiv al celloidin-embedded human temporal bone sections. Polymerase chain r eaction (PCR) amplification of 92 base pair (bp), 121 bp, and 471 bp r egions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) extracted from a single archival c elloidin-embedded human temporal bone section was used to assess the l ength of the template DNA extracted. The effects of digestion time and sample motion during the extraction method on DNA concentration was a lso studied. These data are crucial to determine the limits of applyin g PCR technology to amplify specific genomic DNA targets located withi n the human inner ear. Further development of these methods will allow additional molecular temporal bone pathologic studies to be completed and, more specifically, hypotheses regarding the molecular etiopathog enesis of many auditory, vestibular, and facial nerve disorders, such as autoimmune hearing loss, congenital hearing losses, Meniere's disea se, otosclerosis, or Bell's palsy could be tested. The results describ ed should be of great value to those investigators extracting DNA from archival individual human temporal bone sections for PCR assays of sp ecific genetic alterations or infectious agents associated with tempor al bone pathologies.