Multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) applied to FISH-banding

Abstract

During the last decade not only multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using whole chromosome paints as probes, but also numerous chromosome banding techniques based on FISH have been developed for the human and for the murine genome. This review focuses on such FISH-banding techniques, which were recently defined as ‘any kind of FISH technique, which provide the possibility to characterize simultaneously several chromosomal subregions smaller than a chromosome arm. FISH-banding methods fitting that definition may have quite different characteristics, but share the ability to produce a DNA-specific chromosomal banding’. While the standard chromosome banding techniques like GTG lead to a protein-related black and white banding pattern, FISH-banding techniques are DNA-specific, more colorful and, thus, more informative. For some, even high-resolution FISH-banding techniques the development is complete and they can be used for whole genome hybridizations in one step. Other FISH-banding methods are only available for selected chromosomes and/or are still under development. FISH-banding methods have successfully been applied in research in evolution- and radiation-biology, as well as in studies on the nuclear architecture. Moreover, their suitability for diagnostic purposes has been proven in prenatal, postnatal and tumor cytogenetics, indicating that they are an important tool with the potential to partly replace the conventional banding techniques in the future.

A Short Introduction to Cytogenetic Studies in Mammals with Reference to the Present Volume

“…These limitations could be overcome by physically isolating a slice of a chromosome by microdissection [Guan et al, 1992] or by cloning DNA in various vectors such as YACs and BACs [Boyle et al, 1992;Kirsch et al, 2000]. Microdissection probes can be pooled for multicolor banding hybridizations [Liehr et al, 2006], which have had some limited application in both primates and rodents. BAC-FISH has become somewhat more popular for establishing marker order along chromosomes and investigating intrachromosomal rearrangements.…”

The Multicolor Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (mFISH) Homepage

“…It provides information on mFISH combined with immunohistochemistry, microdissection after mFISH, and alternatives to mFISH approaches. For FISH-banding [13], the following probe sets can be used: arm specific probes, M-FISH combined with banding, the chromosome bar code, Rx-FISH (cross-species color banding), spectral color banding (SCAN) and multicolor banding (MCB)/m-banding (Figure 3). Single copy probes and/or centromeric probes are applied in many different combinations and various applications; mFISH sets using sub-telomeric or microdeletion syndrome specific probes ("MultiFISH" assay) were created as well as for gene mapping, prenatal, preimplantation and clinical diagnostics mFISH HOMEPAGE or tumor cytogenetics.…”

FISHprep: A Novel Integrated Device for Metaphase FISH Sample Preparation

“…Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH) is an indispensable molecular cytogenetic technique for diagnosis of both inherited and acquired chromosomal abnormalities at a much higher resolution than conventional karyotyping [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Novel FISH based techniques are commonly used in diagnosis of various diseases [4,8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

“…Novel FISH based techniques are commonly used in diagnosis of various diseases [4,8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Recently, interphase FISH has gained much popularity, and as a result metaphase FISH has received lesser attention, which has significantly derailed the progress made in progressing metaphase FISH analysis technologies [19][20][21].…”