Short Oligonucleotide Mass Analysis

Johns Hopkins University, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, 

Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Tel 410-955-4235 Fax 410-955-0617 E-mail pjackson jhsph.edu and Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, NTR International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 cours Albert Thomas F-69372 LYONCedexOS, FRANCE. E-mail friesen iarc.fr 

We have developed a method for analysis of genetic alterations in PCR amplified DNA fragments using electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) termed Short Oligonucleotide Mass Analysis (SOMA). The technique is highly accurate and has been applied to genotyping individuals and to mutational analysis of human tumours. 

---

Biomolecular MS and in particular MALDI-TOF-MS (see Sections 2.1.22 and 2.2.1) permit the routine analysis of oligonucleotides up to 70-mers, intact nucleic acids, and the direct detection of DNA products with no primer labels with an increase in analysis speed and mass accuracy especially in contrast to traditional DNA separation techniques such as slab gels or capillary electrophoresis. Applications focus on the characterization of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and short tandem repeats (STRs). Precise and accurate gene expression measurements show relative and absolute numbers of target molecules determined independently of the number of PCR cycles. DNA methylation can be studied quantitatively. 

---