Figure 3.

To determine the sensitivity of the method, the DNA of a tumor was diluted in its paired normal DNA (dilution factor of tumor DNA is shown on top of each lane) and submitted to AIMS (left). Densitometric analysis of selected bands (right) demonstrated that amplification of the sequences with differential representation was proportional to the dilution factor. Band intensity is shown in arbitrary units (y-axis). According to this experiment, the sensitivity to detect hypermethylations was estimated in the range of 1/128th (up arrowhead). Hypomethylations (loss of band) also showed a quantitative response, but under the conditions described here, the sensitivity was limited to 16-fold (down arrowhead).