Single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis to detect the p53 mutation in colon tumor samples by capillary electrophoresis

The polymerase chain reaction–single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) technique is developed for the detection of point mutations in DNA samples, and is very useful in the research of tumors. The traditional SSCP was carried out with slab gel electrophoresis (SGE), but this is time-consuming and labor-intensive, particularly for clinical diagnoses. We have developed a capillary electrophoresis (CE) method for SSCP detection with a linear polyacrylamide gel solution as the sieving matrix. Twenty colon tumor samples were detected with SSCP–CE and the point mutation in exon 7 of the p53 gene was found in six of the samples. Based on the sequencing results, the accuracy of SSCP–CE was better than that of SSCP–SGE. We hope this rapid and convenient method could be applied in the clinical diagnosis of tumors soon.