FUNCTIONAL ASSAY FOR TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES.

摘要

A method for determining whether an individual, i.e., a human, carries a mutation which encodes a polypeptide which is a transcriptional regulator including the steps of obtaining a first nucleic acid comprising cDNA encoding both alleles of the gene from a cell sample from the individual, providing a second nucleic acid comprising a binding site operably linked to DNA encoding a detectable protein such that transcription of the DNA encoding the detectable protein is regulated by interaction of the tumor suppressor polypeptide with the binding site, transfecting these first and second nucleic acids into cells with low levels of the tumor suppressor polypeptide, and then examining the transfected cells for the level of the detectable protein, the level being correlated with the presence of a mutation in at least one of the alleles of the gene.