The oxidative modification of proteins plays a major role in a number of human diseases, but identity of the specific proteins that are most susceptible to oxidation has posed a difficult problem. Protein carbonyls are increased after oxidative stress, and after derivatization with 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine (DNP) they can be detected by various analytical and immunological methods. Although high resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) can resolve virtually all proteins present in a cell or tissue it has been difficult to determine the oxidized proteins because the DNP-derivatization process alters the isoelectric points of proteins, and additional procedures must be utilized to remove reaction byproducts. These additional procedures can lead to loss of sample, and poor isoelectric resolution on immobilized pH gradient (IPG) strips. We have developed a method that allows the IPG strips to be derivatized with DNP directly following isoelectric focusing of the proteins. This method allows the visualization of oxidized proteins by 2-DE with high reproducibility.

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Clinical genetics units of hospitals occasionally receive requests from women for prenatal diagnosis for Huntington's disease when their male partners are at risk and do not want to know their genetic status for the disease. These cases raise significant legal and ethical concerns for the clinical team because such prenatal tests can reveal that the woman's partner has the genetic mutation for Huntington's disease when he does not want this information and may be unprepared for it. In this paper we present clinical, legal, and ethical appraisals of this situation. We conclude that there is no easy answer to such requests and that clinical teams need to deal with them on the basis of the individual circumstances

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