Base specific cleavage of methylation-specific amplification products in combination with mass analysis

摘要

Methods, combinations and kits are provided for identifying the methylation state of a target nucleic acid molecule, the methylation state of a nucleotide locus in a target nucleic acid molecule, or for identifying the locus of one or more methylated or unmethylated nucleotides in a target nucleic acid molecule. Methylation state identification is performed by treating a methylated target nucleic acid molecule with a reagent that modifies one or more nucleotides in the target nucleic acid molecule as a function of the methylation state of the target nucleic acid molecule, methylation specifically amplifying treated target nucleic acid molecule, fragmenting amplified products, and detecting one or more fragments to thereby identify the methylation state of a target nucleic acid molecule, the methylation state of a nucleotide locus in a target nucleic acid molecule, or the locus of one or more methylated or unmethylated nucleotides in a target nucleic acid molecule.