ABSTRACT
Objective Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is mainly involved in lipid metabolism and cholesterol transport, which is important for health. To establish a pyrosequencing based method for detection of 112T>C and 158C>T single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Apolipoprotein E gene. Methods Three amplification systems including Taq enzyme buffer from TaKaRa company (T buffer), La Taq enzyme buffer specified for G-C rich regions (L buffer) and Trans Taq enzyme buffer from TransGen company (TT buffer) were chosen to optimize PCR system and temperature by annealing at 60 °C and gradient annealing from 62 to 68 °C respectively. The specificity of this method was evaluated by comparing its results with those of Sanger sequencing. The sensitivity of this method was evaluated by gradient diluting human genomic DNA as detection template. Results According to the concentration and specificity of the products, the optimum condition was L buffer with 60℃ annealing programs. Pyrosequencing results of 20 samples were completely consistent with those of Sanger sequencing. The sensitivity of this method could be as low as 0.16 ng genomic DNA. Conclusion A method based on pyrosequencing detecting 112 and 158 polymorphisms in APOE gene was established, which can be applied in clinical personalized medicine.