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Protocol for designing and interpreting minigene assays to validate candidate splice altering variants

Whitford, W.; Musgrave, S. M.; Snell, R. G.; Jacobsen, J. C.

2026-05-08 molecular biology
10.64898/2026.05.05.723105 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Variants affecting RNA splicing are a major contributor to human disease, yet the consequences of variants outside of the canonical splice motifs are often difficult to determine. Here, we present a protocol for minigene-based evaluation of candidate splice-altering variants. The methodology described includes locus-specific insert design, commercial gene fragment synthesis, and long-read sequencing. The combined approach enables rapid assay development and nucleotide level resolution of the effect on splice isoforms in vitro, providing a scalable framework for functional validation of predicted cryptic splice variants. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=197 SRC="FIGDIR/small/723105v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (42K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1a88cb5org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@adda98org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1ea587corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@574a63_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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