Biomaterial Database

[Polymerase chain reaction: basic principles and applications in molecular pathology]. 2013

Libor Staněk

Ústav patolgie 1. LF UK a VFN, Praha. stanek.libor@seznam.cz

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technology used for quick and easy amplifying DNA sequences, which is based on the principle of enzymatic replication of the nucleic acids. This method has in the field of molecular biology an irreplaceable role and constitutes one of the basic methods for DNA analysis. In the following article we describe the basic principles of PCR, and its importance especially in the field of pathology.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D004247	DNA	A deoxyribonucleotide polymer that is the primary genetic material of all cells. Eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms normally contain DNA in a double-stranded state, yet several important biological processes transiently involve single-stranded regions. DNA, which consists of a polysugar-phosphate backbone possessing projections of purines (adenine and guanine) and pyrimidines (thymine and cytosine), forms a double helix that is held together by hydrogen bonds between these purines and pyrimidines (adenine to thymine and guanine to cytosine).	DNA, Double-Stranded,Deoxyribonucleic Acid,ds-DNA,DNA, Double Stranded,Double-Stranded DNA,ds DNA
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D016133	Polymerase Chain Reaction	In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.	Anchored PCR,Inverse PCR,Nested PCR,PCR,Anchored Polymerase Chain Reaction,Inverse Polymerase Chain Reaction,Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction,PCR, Anchored,PCR, Inverse,PCR, Nested,Polymerase Chain Reactions,Reaction, Polymerase Chain,Reactions, Polymerase Chain
D057089	Pathology, Molecular	A subspecialty of pathology concerned with the molecular basis (e.g., mutations) of various diseases.	Diagnostic Molecular Pathology,Molecular Diagnostics,Diagnostic Molecular Pathologies,Diagnostic, Molecular,Diagnostics, Molecular,Molecular Diagnostic,Molecular Pathologies,Molecular Pathologies, Diagnostic,Molecular Pathology,Molecular Pathology, Diagnostic,Pathologies, Diagnostic Molecular,Pathologies, Molecular,Pathology, Diagnostic Molecular