Recent advances in molecular diagnosis using surface plasmon resonance and biosensor technology for detection of beta-thalassemia mutations

In the present review we describe a new methodology employing surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and biosensor technology to detect point mutations, including those causing a severe form of betadegreesIVSI-1 thalassemia. The data presented allow to conclude that biospecific interaction analysis (BIA) is a fast and automatable approach for detecting mutations of the beta-globin gene by the real-time monitoring of hybridization between oligonucleotide (ODN) probes and target biotinylated polymerase-chain reaction (PCR) products generated from genomic DNA of normal, heterozygous subjects and homozygous betadegrees-thalassemia patients and immobilized on streptavidin coated sensor chips. During the association phase, discrimination between mismatched and full matched ODN/PCR product hybrids is readily and reproducibly observed.