FUNCTIONAL ASSAY FOR TUMOR SUPPRESSOR GENES.

摘要

A method for determining whether an individual, i.e., a human, carries a mutation in a gene which encodes a transcriptional regulator (e.g., a tumor suppressor). The method includes the steps of obtaining a nucleic acid sample comprising cDNAs encoding both alleles of the gene from a cell sample from the individual; providing a nucleic acid construct 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 transcriptional regulator polypeptide with the binding site; transfecting the nucleic acid sample and the nucleic acid construct into cells with low levels of the transcriptional regulator polypeptide; and then determining the levels of the detectable protein in the transfected cells, this level being correlated with the presence of a mutation in at least one of the alleles of the gene.