Abstract:
The BRCA1 is a tumor suppressor gene which when mutated can
predispose an individual to breast cancer. DNA was extracted from the
blood of 17 subjects, 12 of whom comprised the patient population and the
other 5 comprised the control population. The region in exon 11 of
BRCA1, where a unique Filipino mutation was previously reported by
Worsham and colleagues (1998), was amplified through polymerase chain
reaction (PCR) with an annealing temperature of 68°C with 200 ng DNA
template. Single stranded conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was carried
out in 8% (w/v) polyacrylamide at 4°C for approximately 8 hours. For the
first batch of SSCP, 81.57% of the patient population exhibited a different
banding profile from that of the controls, thus suggesting the probable
presence of mutations. For the second batch of SSCP, 100% of the patients
exhibited a different banding profile from that of the controls, thus
suggesting the possible presence of mutations. The presence and nature of
these putative mutations can only be confirmed by gene sequencing,
which is beyond the scope of this study.
