A restriction fragment length polymorphism assay that differentiates human N-acetyltransferase-1 (NAT1) alleles

Currently there is much interest in the N-acetyltransferase-1 (NAT1) genetic polymorphism and its relationship to cancer. Previous studies have described methods to distinguish NAT1 alleles through polymer ase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and/or allele-specific amplification. However, these methods detect at most only four of the NAT1 alleles identified in human populations. In this paper we describe a PCR-RFLP-based assay that differentiates among eight human NAT1 alleles (NAT1*3, *4, *5, *10, *11, *14, *15, *16). This method should prove useful in molecular epidemiological studies investigating associations between NAT1 genotype and cancer. (C) 1997 Academic Press.