These studies are performed using DNA sequencing facilities located in the UNMC Molecular Core Facility at the Eppley Institute, using the dideoxynucleotidedye terminator technique. Parentage testing The transplant immunology laboratory first developed expertise in performing DNA fingerprinting for verification of marrow engraftment in our allogeneic bone marrow recipients in 1991. We have offered this same technology for assessment of paternity since 1992. The DNA is then digested with restriction enzymes and analyzed using a Southern blot method to determine if fragments containing unique tandem repeating sequence are of identical of different size. By performing this analysis using several different probes, directed wo unique sites of several different, independently assorted chromosomes, it is possibleto assign parentage with very high probability.
Results are usually available within four weeks from the time blood is obtained.
Results will only be released in writing to parties designated in advance. Some HLA antigens have been found to be present in patients having certain human diseases more frequently than one would predict based upon the prevalence of that antigen within the general population. The best known example of this is the high prevalence of the HLA- B27 antigen in patients having ankylosingspondylitis. This has led to the belief that these antigens predispose to the development of these disorders, or that they represent a marker for a closely linked gene that renders these individuals susceptible to these illnesses. The Transplant Immunology laboratory offers screening for the HLA B27 antigen.