NRAS Mutation Detection

NRAS mutations have been implicated in the pathogenesis of different cancers, particularly common in melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, myeloid leukemia, and thyroid carcinoma ^{1, 2}. About 15–25% of cutaneous melanomas have NRAS mutations; most of these mutations are missense mutations at codons 12, 13, or 61. Analysis of NRAS mutations has been used to categorize the types of melanomas and optimize the targeted therapy of melanomas, for example, the mutant NRAS melanoma cells are more sensitive to the pharmacologic c-Met inhibitors than those with BRAF mutations^3-5.

Based on the Shifted Termination Assay (STA) technology, our Mutector^TM reagents contain special chemistry and a modified enzyme mixture to enrich the mutation signal 20-fold and detect as low as 1% mutation in wild type background. The Mutector^TM reagents have been widely used to detect BRAF, KRAS and other mutations in clinical samples including FFPE samples  (see STA/Mutector-related Publications).

What is different

• Detect more mutations –   Simultaneously detect 16 mutations include the rare mutations (see below), detects all possible mutations in target codon
• Use less clinical samples –  works for small amount of samples such as fine needle aspiration (FNA) sample
• Detects low level (1-5%) mutations
• Accurate –  like the sequencing, the mutation is double confirmed by peak color and fragment size

Assay Information

Target Mutations           Codon 12: G12A, G12C, G12D, G12R, G12S, G12V
                                     Codon 13: G13A, G13C, G13D, G13R, G13S, G13V
                                     Codon 61: Q61K, Q61L, Q61P, Q61R

Assay Platform         Capillary sequencer ABI 3100, 3700, 3130, 3500
Assay Sensitivity      Detects 1-2% NRAS mutations
Sample Required      20-160 ng DNA 

Assay workflow

Order Information

Example results of NRAS codon 12 mutation analysis:
Six control mutations of codon 12 were simultaneously detected in a single tube        

Assay results of FFPE samples

Example results of NRAS codon 13 mutation analysis:
Six control mutations of codon 13 were simultaneously detected in a single tube 

Assay results of FFPE samples

Example results of NRAS codon 61 mutation analysis:
Four control mutations of codon 61 were simultaneously detected in a single tube  

Assay results of FFPE samples