INTRODUCTION The aims of these studies were to identify the cytokine and chemokine expression profile of nucleus pulposus (NP) cells and to determine the relationships between NP cell cytokine and chemokine production and the characteristic tissue changes seen during intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. METHODS Real-time q-PCR cDNA Low Density Array (LDA) was used to investigate the expres...

Amplification of a product in PCR with specific primers may be viewed as an artificial Darwinian-type "selection of the fittest". In other selective systems, such as general evolution, immune system and probably brain cortex, the stringency of selection is not absolute but rather degenerate, with selection of many highly fit units, not limited, however, to only the fittest. In PCR also, anneali...

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with degenerate primers was utilized for partial cloning of the MADS box gene family from wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). PCR products corresponding to a part of the MADS box region were cloned and sequenced. Eleven individual clones sequenced were classified into seven types on the basis of the nucleotide sequence and five types on the deduced amino acid sequence,...

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a versatile method to amplify specific DNA with oligonucleotide primers. By designing degenerate PCR primers based on amino acid sequences that are highly conserved among all known gene family members, new members of a multigene family can be identified. The inherent weakness of this approach is that the degenerate primers will amplify previously identifie...

It is sometimes useful to amplify DNA before labeling it. Degenerate oligonucleotide primed-polymerase chain reaction (DOP-PCR) allows amplification of any complex DNA, regardless of sequence. DOP-PCR is performed using a single primer that has a fixed sequence at its 5' end and several degenerate bases near its 3' end that allow it to anneal at low stringency to many sites in complex DNA. Foll...

Linker adaptor-mediated PCR (LAM-PCR) and degenerate oligonucleotide primed PCR (DOP-PCR) are major ways to generate chromosome-specific libraries. In this study, these two PCR techniques were used to amplify the microdissected mitotic and meiotic chromosomes from rice and wheat. The results of amplifications were compared, and the advantages and limitations between the two techniques are prese...

Procedures for using PCR to amplify novel members of gene families from genomic DNA frequently involve the use of degenerate primers. Of key importance is the ability to produce ample quantities of specific PCR product while minimizing or eliminating nonspecific side reactions. Primer design protocols and software are improving, but finding the optimal amplification conditions often involves a ...

A pair of degenerate primers, GMPF1 and GMPR1, was designed on the basis of alignment of previously reported Grapevine fanleaf virus (GFLV) movement protein (MP) nucleotide sequences from Iran and other parts of the world. cDNA was synthesized by the use of Oligo d(T)18 from total RNA extraction from each diseased grapevine leaf sample and subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the d...