I FISH Techniques, FISH Probes and Their Applications in Medicine and Biology - An Overview
3S
further the number of recurrent chromosome abnormalities specific for
individual tumors or tumor stages.
To further characterize points of breakage found with whole genome
screening techniques, cloned DNA sequences in YACs, PACs, BACS
etc. that previously have been mapped to specific regions can be used.
These cloned DNA sequences covering all human chromosomes are stored
in several places (see referencelist for web-sites) and it is possible to
obtain small samples of these clones which then can be amplified,
labeled and hybridized to samples for further characterization of the
breakpoints.
Chromosomal aberrations identified by conventional banding methods and by FISH techniques can unequivocally be described by an internationally agreed nomenclature, "The International System for Human
Cytogenetic Nomenclature" (ISCN). The first conference on this issue
was held in Paris in 1971 and the latest revised version ISCN 1995 includes
a section for describing abnormalities that have been found by FISH. A
standing international committee ensures that the nomenclature is kept
up to date, but now a nomenclature for describing fmdings obtained by
the new 24-color karyotyping and CGH-analysis is needed.
Comparative cytogenetics
Chromosomal homologies between different species have been established using an approach termed ZOO-FISH (Solinas-Toldo et al.
1995). The introduction of chromosome painting to the field of comparative cytogenetics has greatly added to the current understanding of chromosome changes that occurred during the evolution of species. The first
mammalian karyotype that was painted entirely with the set of chromosome-specific painting probes in a single hybridization experiment was
the Indian muntjac (Yang et al. 1995). This deer species has the lowest
chromosome number known in mammals (2n=617). Since then, all 24 human chromosomes have become available and karyotype analyses of various gibbon species have been performed by assigning the hybridization
patterns from all 24 human chromosome-specific painting probes. It was
found that the gibbon genome is considerably different from other hominoid primates as all gibbon species are characterized by a highly disrupted
chromosomal synteny. Human chromosome specific probes have even
been used to paint regions of homology in distant species (Scherthan
3S
further the number of recurrent chromosome abnormalities specific for
individual tumors or tumor stages.
To further characterize points of breakage found with whole genome
screening techniques, cloned DNA sequences in YACs, PACs, BACS
etc. that previously have been mapped to specific regions can be used.
These cloned DNA sequences covering all human chromosomes are stored
in several places (see referencelist for web-sites) and it is possible to
obtain small samples of these clones which then can be amplified,
labeled and hybridized to samples for further characterization of the
breakpoints.
Chromosomal aberrations identified by conventional banding methods and by FISH techniques can unequivocally be described by an internationally agreed nomenclature, "The International System for Human
Cytogenetic Nomenclature" (ISCN). The first conference on this issue
was held in Paris in 1971 and the latest revised version ISCN 1995 includes
a section for describing abnormalities that have been found by FISH. A
standing international committee ensures that the nomenclature is kept
up to date, but now a nomenclature for describing fmdings obtained by
the new 24-color karyotyping and CGH-analysis is needed.
Comparative cytogenetics
Chromosomal homologies between different species have been established using an approach termed ZOO-FISH (Solinas-Toldo et al.
1995). The introduction of chromosome painting to the field of comparative cytogenetics has greatly added to the current understanding of chromosome changes that occurred during the evolution of species. The first
mammalian karyotype that was painted entirely with the set of chromosome-specific painting probes in a single hybridization experiment was
the Indian muntjac (Yang et al. 1995). This deer species has the lowest
chromosome number known in mammals (2n=617). Since then, all 24 human chromosomes have become available and karyotype analyses of various gibbon species have been performed by assigning the hybridization
patterns from all 24 human chromosome-specific painting probes. It was
found that the gibbon genome is considerably different from other hominoid primates as all gibbon species are characterized by a highly disrupted
chromosomal synteny. Human chromosome specific probes have even
been used to paint regions of homology in distant species (Scherthan