2
Nucleic Acids Research, 1995, Vol. 23 , N o . 6 1087-1088 A n improved P C R method f o r walking i n uncloned genomic D N A Paul D . Siebert*, Alex Chenchik, David E . Kellogg, Konstantin A . Lukyanov' a n d Sergey A . Lukyanov' Clontech Laboratories, Inc., 4030 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, C A 94303-4607, U S A a n d 1Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute o f Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy o f Sciences, u l. Miklukho-Maklaja 16/10, V-437 Moscow 117871, Russia Received January 4, 1995; Accepted February 9 , 1995 Several PCR-based methods a r e available f o r walking from a known region t o a n unknown region i n cloned or uncloned genomic DNA. T h e methods a re o f three types: inverse P C R (1), randomly primed P C R ( 2 ) a n d adaptor ligation PC R (3-6). However, these methods have no t been generally applied to walking i n uncloned genomic DNA because they a re either complicated o r inefficient. Recent improvements t o these methods have been t o uncloned genomic DNA (7,8), however, walks have been limited to distances o f < 1 kb . W e have investigated t h e application o f 'long a n d accurate PCR' (9,10) t o walking i n uncloned genomic DNA. W e initially examined t h e u s e o f 'unpredictably primed PCR' (3), a new method based on randomly primed P C R a n d 'vectorette PCR' (5), which is based upon adaptor ligation. A s a model system we attempted t o walk upstream from exon 1 o f t h e human tissue-type plasminogen activator (TPA) gene which h a s been previously characterized (11). I n o r hands both 'unpredictably primed PCR' a n d 'vectorette PCR' generated multiple P C R products even after nested P CR was perforned. Although upon analysis some of t h e P C R products were found to be from successful walks, t he presence o f multiple P CR products would complicate further characterization without Southern blot hybridization or extensive cloning. W e have improved upon th e adaptor ligation method b y combining 'vectorette PCR' with a newly developed method termed 'suppression PCR' A special adaptor i s ligated t o t h e ends o f DNA fragments generated b y digestion o f human genomic DNA with EcoRV, Scal, Dral, PvuII a n d SspI separately. Following adaptor ligation, a small amount o f t h e DNA i s used as a template f o r P C R using adaptor primers a n d gene specific T h e enzymes used were selected because they have six-base recognition sites a n d generate blunt ends. T h e sequences o f t he walking adaptor a n d primers a re shown i n Figure 1. O ne e n d o f t h e adaptor i s blunt so that i t will ligate t o both ends of a n y DNA fragment generated b y restriction enzymes that yield bluntends. T h e adaptor also contains t w o rare restriction enzyme sites f o r NotI (staggered ends) a n d SflI/SmaI (blunt ends) t o allow cloning into commonly used vectors such as pBluescript (Stratagene). T he 'vectorette' feature of t h e adaptor i s t h e presence o f a n amine group o n t he 3'-end f t h e lower strand. This blocks Adpr ,CTA ATA CGA CT C ACTATA GGG TC GA G CGG Ccc GG CAG GT 3 A P ) s,GATCCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGC3 3,-H2N-CCC GTC CA- P 5 AP 2 5,'A TA GGG CTC GAG CGG C 3 B i, spp P CR Figure 1 . ( A ) Sequences o f the walking adaptor a n d adaptor primers an d gene-specific primers. ( B ) Illustration o f t h e suppression PC R effect. Structure o f PC R products formed b y non-specific amplification. T h e sequences o n t h e ends o f t h e products contain inverted terminal repeats a n d will form 'panhandle' structures which suppress PCR. polymerase catalyzed extension o f t h e lower adaptor strand, preventing t h e generation o f t h e primer binding site unless a defined, distal, gene-specific primer extends a DNA strand opposite t he upper strand o f t he adapter. T h e 'suppression PCR' technology uses a n adaptor primer which i s shorter i n length than t h e adaptor a n d i s capable o f hybridizing t o t h e outer primer binding site. I f a n y P C R products a re generated which contain double-stranded adaptor sequences at both ends t o non- specific DNA synthesis), t h e ends of theindividual DNA strands will form 'panhandle' structures following every denaturation step, d u e t o t h e presence o f inverted terminal repeats (Fig. lB.). These structures a r e more stable than t he primer-template hybrid a n d therefore will suppress exponential amplification. However, when a distal gene-specific primer extends a DNA strand through t h e adaptor, t h e extension product will contain t h e adaptor sequence only o n o n e endand thus cannot form t h e 'panhandle' structure. P CR amplification c a n then proceed normally. T o prepare t h e adaptor-ligated DNA, 2 . 5 g g o f human genomic DNA (Clontech) is digested i n 1 0 0 g l reaction volumes with 8 0 U of restriction enzyme overnight a t 37°C using buffers recom- mended b y th e supplier (Life Technologies). T h e DNA was extracted once with phenol/chloroform/isoamyl alcohol (25:24:1) vol/vol, once with chloroform, a n d then precipitated b y addition o f 1/10th v o l 3 M NaOAc, 20 , u g glycogen (molecular biology grade, Boehringer Mannheim) a n d 2 v o l o f 9 5 % EtOH. * T o whom correspondence should b e addressed

An Improved PCR Method for Walking in Uncloned

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N u c l e i cA c i d sR e s e a r c h ,1 9 9 5 ,Vo l .2 3 ,N o . 6 1 0 8 7 - 1 0 8 8

An i m p r o v e dPCR m e t h o df o rw a l k i n gi n u n c l o n e dg e n o m i cDNAP a u l D .S i e b e r t * ,A l e xC h e n c h i k ,D a v i dE .K e l l o g g ,K o n s t a n t i nA . L u k y a n o v 'a n d

S e r g e yA . Lukyanov '

C l o n t e c hL a b o r a t o r i e s ,I n c . ,4 0 3 0 F a b i a nWa y , P a l oA l t o ,CA 9 4 3 0 3 - 4 6 0 7 ,USA a n d 1 S h e m y a k i na n dO v c h i n n i k o vI n s t i t u t eo fB i o o r g a n i cC h em i s t r y ,R u s s i a nAcademy o fS c i e n c e s , u l .M i k l u k h o - M a k l a j a1 6 / 1 0 ,V- 4 3 7

Mos c ow 1 1 7 8 7 1 ,R u s s i a

R e c e i v e dJ a n u a r y4 , 1 9 9 5 ;A c c e p t e dF e b r u a r y9 , 1 9 9 5

S e v e r a lP C R - b a s e dm e t h o d sa r e a v a i l a b l ef o rwa l k i n g f r o m a

k n o w nr e g i o nt o a n u n k n o w nr e g i on i n c l o n e d o r u n c l o n e dg e n o m i cDNA. T h em e t h o d sa re o f t h r e et y p e s : i n v e r s ePCR ( 1 ) ,r a n d o m l yp r i m e dPCR ( 2 ) a n d a d a p t o rl i g a t i o nPCR ( 3 - 6 ) .H o w e v e r ,t h e s em e t h o d sh a v e n o t b e e n g e n e r a l l ya p p l i e dt owa l k i n g i n u n c l o n e dg e n o m i cDNA b e c a u s e t h e ya re e i t h e rc o m p l i c a t e d o r i n e f f i c i e n t .R e c e n t i m p r o v e m e n t st o t h e s em e t h o d sh a v e b e e na p p l i e dt o u n c l o n e dg e n o m i cDNA ( 7 , 8 ) ,h o w e v e r ,w a l k sh a v eb e e n l i m i t e dt o d i s t a n c e so f < 1 k b .We h a v e i n v e s t i g a t e dt h ea p p l i c a t i o no f ' l o n ga n d a c c u r a t e

P C R ' ( 9 , 1 0 )t o w a l k i n gi nu n c l o n e dg e n o m i cDNA. We i n i t i a l l ye x a m i n e dt h eu s e o f ' u n p r e d i c t a b l yp r i m e dP C R ' ( 3 ) ,a new

m e t h o db a s e d on r a n d o m l yp r i m e dPCR a n d ' v e c t o r e t t eP C R '( 5 ) ,w h i c hi sb a s e du p o n a d a p t o rl i g a t i o n .A s a m o d e ls y s t e mwe

a t t e m p t e dt o w a l ku p s t r e a mf r o me x o n 1 o f t h eh u m a nt i s s u e - t y p ep l a s m i n o g e na c t i v a t o r( T PA ) g e n e w h i c hh a s b e e n p r e v i o u s l yc h a r a c t e r i z e d( 1 1 ) .I no u r h a n d sb o t h ' u n p r e d i c t a b l yp r i m e dP C R ' a n d ' v e c t o r e t t e

P C R 'g e n e r a t e dm u l t i p l ePCRp r o d u c t se v e n a f t e rn e s t e dPCR was

p e r f o r n e d .A l t h o u g hu p o n a n a l y s i ss o m e o f t h ePCR p r o d u c t swe r e f o u n d t o b e d e r i v e df r o ms u c c e s s f u lw a l k s ,t h ep r e s e n c e o fm u l t i p l ePCR p r o d u c t sw o u l dc o m p l i c a t ef u r t h e rc h a r a c t e r i z a t i o nw i t h o u tS o u t h e r nb l o th y b r i d i z a t i o no r e x t e n s i v ec l o n i n g .We h a v e i m p r o v e du p o n t h e a d a p t o rl i g a t i o nm e t h o db y

c o m b i n i n g' v e c t o r e t t eP C R ' w i t h a n e w l yd e v e l o p e dm e t h o dt e r m e d' s u p p r e s s i o nP C R '( 1 2 ) .A s p e c i a la d a p t o ri sl i g a t e dt o t h ee n d s o f DNA f r a g m e n t s g e n e r a t e db y d i g e s t i o no f h u m a ng e n o m i cDNA w i t hE c o RV,S c a l ,D r a l ,P v u I Ia n dS s p Is e p a r a t e l y .F o l l o w i n ga d a p t o rl i g a t i o n ,a s m a l lamoun t o f t h eDNA i s u s e da s a t e m p l a t ef o rPCR u s i n ga d a p t o rp r i m e r sa n d g e n e s p e c i f i cp r i m e r s .T h e e n z ym e s u s e d w e r e s e l e c t e db e c a u s et h e yh a v es i x - b a s er e c o g n i t i o ns i t e sa n d g e n e r a t eb l u n te n d s .T h e s e q u e n c e s o f t h ew a l k i n ga d a p t o ra n d p r i m e r sa re s h o w n

i nF i g u r e1 .One e n d o f t h ea d a p t o ri s b l u n tso t h a ti t w i l ll i g a t et o b o t h e n d s o f a n y DNA f r a g m e n tg e n e r a t e db y r e s t r i c t i o ne n z ym e s t h a ty i e l db l u n t e n d s .T h ea d a p t o ra l s oc o n t a i n stw o r a r e

r e s t r i c t i o ne n z ym e s i t e sf o rNo t I ( s t a g g e r e de n d s )a n dS f l I / S m a I( b l u n te n d s )t o a l l o wc l o n i n gi n t oc o m m o n l yu s e dv e c t o r s s u c h a sp B l u e s c r i p t( S t r a t a g e n e ) .T h e ' v e c t o r e t t e 'f e a t u r eo f t h ea d a p t o ri s t h ep r e s e n c e o f a n

a m i n e g r oup o n t h e 3 ' - e n d o f t h e l o w e r s t r a n d .T h i s b l o c k s

Adpr , C TA ATACGA CT CACTATA GGG TC GA GCGG Ccc GG CAG GT 3

A P ) s ,GATCCTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGC3 3 , - H 2N - CCCGTC CA- P 5

AP 2 5 , ' AATA GGG CTC GAG CGG C 3

B i,

spp P CR

F i g u r e 1 . ( A ) S e q u e n c e so f t h ew a l k i n ga d a p t o ra n d a d a p t o rp r i m e r sa n dg e n e - s p e c i f i cp r i m e r s .( B )I l l u s t r a t i o no f t h es u p p r e s s i o nPC R e f f e c t .S t r u c t u r eo f PC R p r o d u c t sf o r m e db y n o n - s p e c i f i ca m p l i f i c a t i o n .T h e s e q u e n c e s o n t h ee n d s o f t h e p r o d u c t sc o n t a i ni n v e r t e dt e r m i n a lr e p e a t s a n d w i l l f o r m' p a n h a n d l e 's t r u c t u r e s w h i c hsuppress P C R .

p o l y m e r a s ec a t a l y z e de x t e n s i o no f t h e l o w e r a d a p t o rs t r a n d ,p r e v e n t i n gt h eg e n e r a t i o no f t h ep r i m e r b i n d i n g s i t eu n l e s sad e f i n e d ,d i s t a l ,g e n e - s p e c i f i cp r i m e r e x t e n d s a DNA s t r a n do p p o s i t et h eupper s t r a n do f t h ea d a p t e r .T h e ' s u p p r e s s i o nP C R 't e c h n o l o g yu s e s a n a d a p t o rp r i m e rw h i c hi ss h o r t e ri nl e n g t ht h a nt h ea d a p t o ra n d i s c a p a b l eo f h y b r i d i z i n gt o t h eo u t e r p r i m e rb i n d i n gs i t e .I f a n y PCR p r o d u c t sa re g e n e r a t e dw h i c hc o n t a i nd o u b l e - s t r a n d e da d a p t o r s e q u e n c e s a t b o t h e n d s ( d u e t o non -

s p e c i f i cDNA s y n t h e s i s ) ,t h ee n d s o ft h e i n d i v i d u a lDNA s t r a n d sw i l lf o r m ' p a n h a n d l e 's t r u c t u r e s f o l l o w i n ge v e r y d e n a t u r a t is t e p ,d u e t o t h ep re sence o f i n v e r t e dt e r m i n a lr e p e a t s ( F i g .l B . ) .T h e s es t r u c t u r e s a r e more s t a b l et h a n t h ep r i m e r - t e m p l a t eh y b r i da n d t h e r e f o r ew i l ls u p p r e s se x p o n e n t i a la m p l i f i c a t i o n .H o w e v e r ,w h e na d i s t a lg e n e - s p e c i f i cp r i m e re x t e n d sa DNA s t r a n dt h r o u g ht h e a d a p t o r ,t h e e x t e n s i o n p r o d u c t w i l lc o n t a i n t h e a d a p t o rs e q u e n c e o n l y o n o n e e n d a n dt h u sc a n n o tf o r mt h e' p a n h a n d ls t r u c t u r e .PCR a m p l i f i c a t i o nc a n t h e n p r o c e e dn o r m a l l y .T o p r e p a r e t h ea d a p t o r - l i g a t e dDNA, 2 . 5g g o f human g e n o m i c

DNA ( C l o n t e c h )i sd i g e s t e di n1 0 0g lr e a c t i o nv o l u m e sw i t h 8 0 U

o f r e s t r i c t i o ne n z y m e o v e r n i g h ta t 3 7 ° C u s i n gb u f f e r sr e c o m -

m e n d e db y t h e s u p p l i e r ( L i f eTe c h n o l o g i e s ) .T h e DNA was

e x t r a c t e do n c e w i t h p h e n o l / c h l o r o f o r m / i s o a ma l c o h o l

( 2 5 : 2 4 : 1 )v o l / v o l ,o n c e w i t h c h l o r o f o r m ,a n d t h e n p r e c i p i t a t e db ya d d i t i o no f 1 / 1 0 t hv o l 3 M N a O A c ,2 0 , u gg l y c o g e n( m o l e c u lb i o l o g yg r a d e ,B o e h r i n g e rM a n n h e i m )a n d 2 v o l o f 95% E tOH .

*T o whomc o r r e s p o n d e n c es h o u l db e a d d r e s s e d

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1 0 8 8 N u c l e i c A c i d sR e s e a r c h ,1 9 9 5 ,Vo l .2 3 ,N o . 6

k b Ml 2 34 5 M

4 . 03 . 02 . 01 . 6

1 . 0

0 . 5

F i g u r e2 .Am p l i f i c a t i o np r o d uc t s g e n e ra t e df r o mw a l k i n gu p s t r e a mf r o me x o n1 o ft h eh u m a nt i s s u e - t y p ep l a s m i n o g e na c t i v a t o rg e n e .PC Rp r o d u c t si nl a n e s1 - 5w e r eo b t a i n e df r o mt h eE c o RV,S c a LD r a L ,P v u Ha n dS s p Ia d a p t o r - l i g a t e dDNA l i b r a r i e s ,r e s p e c t i v e l y .L a n e sM c o n t a i n1 k b DNA s i z em a r k e r s( L i f eT e c h n o l o g i e s ) .T h e s e q u e n c eo f t h eTP A s p e c i f i cp r i m e r sw e r e :P r i m a r yP C R ;5 ' - A G AAACCCGACCTACCACGGCTTGCTCCT T- 3 ' .S e c o n d a r yP C R :5 ' - C C CT I T 1CCTCGC AGAAATTI T CTC TCCAGC - 3 ' .

A f t e rv o r t e xm i x i n g ,t h et u b e sw e r ei m m e d i a t e l yc e n t r i f u g e da t1 50 0 0 r . p . m .i n a m i c r o c e n t r i f u g ef o r1 0m i n .T h ep e l l e t sw e r ew a s h e dw i t h80% E tOH a n d i m m e d i a t e l yc e n t r i f u g e da sa b o v ef o r5 m i n ,a i rd r i e da n dd i s s o l v e di n2 0p 1o f1 0mM T r i s - H C l ,pH7 . 5 ,0 . 1mM E D TA .T e ng 1o f DNAw a st h e nl i g a t e dt oa n e x c e s so fa d a p t o ro v e r n i g h ta t 1 6 ° Cu n d e rt h ef o l l o w i n gc o n d i t i o n s :5 0mM T r i s - H C l ,pH 7 . 6 ,1 0 mM M g C l ,0 . 5mM ATP, 1 0mMd i t h i o t h r e t i t o l ,S , u Ma d a p t o ra n d 1 0 U T 4 DNA l i g a s e( L i f eTe c h n o l o g i e s )i n a t o t a lv o l u m eo f 2 0 g 1 .T h e l i g a t i o nr e a c t i o nw a st e r m i n a t e db y i n c u b a t i o no f t h et u b e sa t7 0 ° Cf o r5m i n ,t h e nd i l u t e d1 0 - f o l db y a d d i t i o no f1 8 0g lo f 1 0mM T r i s - H C l ,p H7 . 5 ,1 mM EDTAa n d s t o r e da t - 2 0 0 C .PCR a m p l i f i c a t i o n sw e r e p e r f o r m e du s i n ga l o n gd i s t a n c e

t h e r m o s t a b l eDNA p o l y m e r a s em i x t u r e o fT th ( 5U / , lTo y o b o )a n dVe n t( 2U / g lNe w E n g l a n dB i o l a b s )a ta r a t i oo f2 0 : 1v o l / v o l( 1 0 ) .We a l s ou t i l i z e da c o m m e r c i a l l ya v a i l a b l ee n z y m em i x t u r e ,r T t hXL ( 2

U / g lP e r k i nE l m e r )w i t h s i m i l a rr e s u l t s .B e f o r eu s e ,

2 p l( 1 1, g ) o fT t h S t a r t TmAn t i b o d y( C l o n t e c h )w a sm i x e dw i t h1 0p 1o ft h eT t h / Ve n te n z y m em i x t u r et of a c i l i t a t ea h o ts t a r tP C R .P r i m a r yPCR r e a c t i o n sw e r e c o n du c te di n 5 0 p 1v o l u m e s

c o n t a i n i n g1 p 1o fl i g a t e da n dd i l u t e dD N A ,4 0mM T r i s - H C l ,p H9 . 3 , 8 5mM K O A c ,1 . 1mM M g O A c ,0 . 4iM a d a p t o rp r i m e rA P Ia n dg e n e - s p e c i f i cp r i m e r ,a n d0 . 9p lo fT t h / Ve n tp o l y m e r a s e / a n t i -b o d ym i x t u r e .T h e c y c l ep a r a m e t e r sw e r ea s f o l l ow s : d e n a tu r a -t i o na t9 4 ° Cf o r3 0 s a n da n n e a l i n g / e x t e n s i o na t6 8 ° Cf o r6 m i n ,e x c e p tf o ra n i n i t i a ld e n a t u r a t i o ns t e po f 1 m i n a n d a f i m a la n n e a l i n g / e x t e n s i o nt i m eo f 1 5m i n ,3 5 c y c l e so fPCRw e r eu s e d .A s e c o n d a r yPCR r e a c t i o nw a sc o n d u c t e dw i t h1 p 1o fa 1 0 0 - f o l dd i l u t i o no f t h ep r i m a r yPCR u s i n ga d a p t o rp r i m e rAP2 a n d t h en e s t e dg e n e - s p e c i f i cp r i m e r .T h e s a m er e a c t i o nc o m p o s i t i o na n dc y c l ep a r a m e t e r s ,e x c e p tt h a t0 . 6p lo f t h eT t h / Ve n tp o l y m e r a s e /a n t i b o d ym i x t u r ew a su s e da n d2 0 t h e r m o c y c l e sp e r f o r m e d .PCRp r o d u c t sw e r ee x a m i n e do n 1 %a g a r o s e / E t B rg e l s .F o rr e s t r i c t i o ne n z y m ed i g e s t i o no f PCR p r o d u c t s ,1 0 p 1o f PCR p r o d u c t sw e r em i x e dw i t h 1 . 2p l o f 1 0x e n z y m eb u f f e ra n d 1 0 U r e s t r i c t i o ne n z y m e( L i f eTe c h n o l o g i e s )a n d i n c u b a t e df o r4 h a t 3 7 ° C .T h er e s u l to f a n e x p e r i m e n ti nw h i c hwe w a l k e du p s t r e a mf r o m

e x o n 1 o ft h et i s s u e - t y p ep l a s m i n o g e na c t i v a t o rg e n e i s s h o w ni nF i g u r e2 .I na l lc a s e s ,s i n g l em a j o rPCR p r o d u c t sw e r eg e n e r a t e dw h i c hh a d t h ef o l l o w i n gs i z e s :1 . 8 ,4 . 5 ,0 . 9 ,1 . 5a n d 3 . 9k b .T h es i z e so f t h et h r e es m a l l e rPCR p r o d u c t sw e r ep r e d i c t e df r o mt h ek n o w ns e q u e n c eo f t h eTPA g e n e ( 11 ) .N o t e n o u g hu p s t r e a ms e q u e n c ew a s a v a i l a b l ei nG e n e B a n k( r e l e a s e8 1 )t op r e d i c tt h es i z e so f t h e two l a r g e rPCR p r o d u c t s .

A B

k b M 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5M

- . 61 . 4

F i g u r e3 . R e s t r i c t i o ne n z y m ed i g e s t i o no f t h ePCR p r o d u c t ss h o w ni nF i g u r e2 .L a n e s1 - 5c o r r e s p o n dt ot h ep r o d u c t so b t a i n e df r o mt h e& o RV,S c a l ,D r a l ,P v u l la n dS s p Ia d a p t o r - l i g a t e dDNAl i b r a r i e s ,r e s p e c t i v e l y .( A )D i g e s t i o nw i t hB a m H I .( B )D i g e s t i o nw i t hP vu I L L a ne sM c o n t a i nI k b DNAs i z em a r k e r s .

We t h e nm a p p e dt h ePCR p r o d u c t sb y d i g e s t i o nw i t h BamHIa n dP v u I L .T h e r e s t r i c t i o ne n z y m ep a t t e r no b t a i n e di s s h o w ni nF i g u r e3 .T h er e l e a s eo f commonDNAf r a gm e n t sa t 1 . 6k b w i t hBamHI a n d 1 . 4k b w i t hP v u l If r o m t h el a r g e ro f t h et w o PCRp r o d u c t sw a sp r e d i c t e df r o mt h ek n o w ns e q u e n c e .T h e s ed a t at h u sv e r i f i e dt h eg e n e - s p e c i f i c i t yo f t h ew a l k f o ra l l f i v ea d a p t o r -l i g a t e dDNA l i b r a r i e s .T h e r e s u l t sa l s os h o wt h a tp r o v i s i o n ar e s t r i c t i o nm a p s o f t h eu n k n o w ns e q u e n c ec a n b e o b t a i n e dw i t h o u tc l o n i n g .Weh a v ef o u n dt h a tt h eh i g hs p e c i f i c i t yo f t h em e t h o dd e s c r i b e d

i sp r i m a r i l yd u e t o t h es u p p r e s s i o ne f f e c to f t h ea d a p t o r / a d a p tp r i m e rc o m b i n a t i o n ,a l t h o u g hi ns o m ec a s e sa d d i t i o n a l l yh a v i n ga n a m i n eg r o u po n t h el o w e rs t r a n do f t h ea d a p t o r( v e c t o r e t t eb l o c k i n g )y i e l d e db e t t e rr e s u l t s .We h a v e a l s ou t i l i z e dt h es a m ea d a p t o r - l i g a t e dDNA t ow a l k

u p s t r e a mf r o m5 ' - e n dc o d i n gr e g i o n so f t h eh u m a nt r a n s f e r r i nr e c e p t o rg e n ew i t h s i m i l a rc l e a nr e s u l t s .I n t h i sc a s et h ew a l k so b t a i n e dr a n g e di nl e n g t hf r o m0 . 2t o6 k b .T h e i m p r o v e dDNAw a l k i n gm e t h o dd e s c r i b e dh e r ew i l lb e

v a l u a b l ef o rr a p i d l y f i n d i n gp r o m o t e r sa n d r e g u l a t o r ye l e m e n t sf r o m s e q u e n c e so b t a i n e df r o mc l o n e dc D N A s ,t od e t e r m i n et h ee x o n - i n t r o nb o u n d a r i e so f g e n e s ,a n d t o w a l k u p s t r e a mo rd o w n s t r e a mf r o ms e q u e n c et a g g e ds i t e sg e n e r a t e df r o mh u m a ng e n o m es t u d i e s .

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Wew i s ht o t h a n kP r o f e s s o rE u g e n e yS v e r d l o vf o rm a n yh e l p f u ld i s c u s s i o n s ,Yo r kZ h uf o ro p t i m i z i n gt h ePCRb u f f e ru s e di nt h i ss t u d y ,A l e x iM i l l e ra n dK r i s t e nMayo f o rc r i t i c a lr e v i e wo ft h em a n u s c r i p ta n dM a r c i eJ o r d a nf o rp r e p a r a t i o no f t h ef i g u r e s .

REFERENCES1 O c h m a n ,H . e ta l .( 1 9 8 8 )G e n e t i c s1 2 0 ,6 2 1 - 6 2 3 .2 P a r k e r ,J . D .e ta l .( 1 9 9 1 )N u c l e i cA c i d sR e s .1 9 ,3 0 5 5 - 3 0 6 0 .3 R o s e n t h a l ,A . a n d J o n e s ,D . S . C .( 1 9 9 0 )N u c l e i cA c i d sR e s .1 8 , 3 0 9 5 - 3 0 9 6 .4 R i l e y ,J .e ta l .( 1 9 9 0 ) N u c l e i cA c i d sR es . 1 8 ,2 8 8 7 - 2 8 9 0 .5 L a g e r s t r o m ,M . J .e ta l .( 1 9 9 1 )PCRM e t h o dA p p l .1 ,1 1 1 - 1 1 9 .6 J o n e s ,D . H .a n dWi n i s t o r f e r ,S . C .( 1 9 9 3 )PCRM e t h o dA p p l .2 , 1 9 7 - 2 0 3 .7 D om i n g u e z ,0 . a n dL o p e z - L a r r e a ,C .( 1 9 9 4 ) N u c l e i cA c i d sR e s .2 2 ,

3 2 4 7 - 3 2 4 8 .8 I w a h a n a ,H . e ta l .( 1 9 9 4 )PCRM e t h o dA p p L4 , 1 9 - 2 5 .9 B a r n e s ,W. M .( 1 9 9 4 )P r o c .N a t l .A c a d .S c i .USA9 1 ,2 2 1 6 - 2 2 2 0 .1 0 C h e n g ,S .e ta l .( 1 9 9 4 )P r o c .N a t l .A c a d .S c i .USA9 1 ,5 6 9 5 - 5 6 9 9 .1 1 F r i e z n e r - D e g e n ,S . J .e ta l . ( 1 9 8 6 )J . B i o l .C h e m .2 6 1 ,6 9 7 2 - 6 9 8 5 .1 2 L u k y a n o v ,S . A .e ta L( 1 9 9 4 )B i o o r g a n i cC h e m .( R u s s i a )2 0 ,7 0 1 - 7 0 4 .