Heteroduplex analysis: a useful screening method for glycogen storage disease type Ia.

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSDIa), also known as von Gierke disease, is the most common and severe disease of glycogenoses and is caused by a deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) and transmitted by an autosomal recessive trait. The encoding gene of G6Pase is composed of only five exons and each exon is short. With heteroduplex analysis (HDA) method, we analyzed the genomic DNA from a patient diagnosed with GSDIa and from her parents. Exons II and IV of the patient showed heteroduplex bands. The mother had a heteroduplex band of exon II, and the father had a heteroduplex band of exon IV. In a mini-slab electrophoresis, exons II and IV of the patient did not show clear heteroduplex bands, but they appeared broader than the others, which made us suspect that they were heteroduplex bands. HDA is an easy and simple method and can verify mutant homozygous DNA fragments by adding wild-type DNA. We think that HDA may be a very useful screening method for the detection of novel genomic mutation in GSDIa in large-scale and mini-slab electrophoresis.