Two males with a 46, Y, der(X), t(X;Y)(p22.3;q11) complement were referred independently for evaluation of sterility with azoospermia. Both patients exhibited minimal symptomatology, characterized only by psychological disturbances. Study of X-chromosome breakpoints with pseudoautosomal probes 68B (DXYZ2 elements), 113D (locus DXYS15), and 19B (locus MIC2) indicated in both patients that at least 97% of the X pseudoautosomal sequences are lost. Hybridization with Xp22.3-specific probes DXS283, DXS284, and DXS31 shows that these loci are retained on the rearranged chromosome. Thus, the X-chromosome breakpoints are located close to the proximal boundary of the pseudoautosomal region, between MIC2 and DXS284.
A prospective study of structural rearrangements occurring in normal lymphocytes was carried out. For each of two newborns and four young and two old adults, about 1000 metaphases from 72-h and 120 from 48-h cultures were studied. The frequency of rearrangements between bands 7p14, 7q35, 14q11.2 or 14q12 and 14qter, which is on the average about 0.003, is higher in newborns (0.0043) than in adults (0.0024). Conversely, the rearrangements involving other bands, which have a frequency of 0.025 on the average, are more frequent in old adults (f = 0.038) than in young adults (f = 0.025) and newborns (f = 0.013). The first type of rearrangement, which occurs in utero, may correspond to immunoglobulin and related gene rearrangements. The other rearrangements seem to accumulate progressively and may reflect exposure to mutagens. It is import to discriminate these two types of rearrangements when studying the effect of low doses of mutagens.
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