Genotyping the Prop-1 mutation in Ames dwarf mice

The Ames dwarf mouse phenotype is based on a homozygous single gene mutatio n in the Prop-1 gene that markedly extends life span. Since its discovery, interest in breeding these mice as a model to study retardation of aging ha s increased dramatically. However, the homozygous Prop-1 mutants are infert ile, which necessitates breeding heterozygotes. Heterozygotes cannot be dis tinguished from the wildtype, while the homozygote dwarf phenotype only bec omes apparent after about 3 weeks. Hence, there is a need for a simple test to genotype individual animals at an early stage for the absence or presen ce of one or two copies of the Prop-1 mutant gene. Here we present a Prop-1 genotyping protocol, based on a PCR reaction followed by a PflMI digestion . (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.