Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)-arrays pave the way for identification of novel cancer-related genes.
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) has already made a significant impact on cancer cytogenetics. However, CGH to metaphase chromosomes can provide only limited resolution at the 5-10 Mb level. To circumvent this limitation, array-based CGH has been devised. Since spotted DNAs in a CGH-array contain sequence information directly connected with the genome database, we can easily note particular biological aspects of genes that lie within regions involved in copy-number aberrations. High-density, sub-megabase arrays can reveal nonrandom chromosome copy-number aberrations responsible for neoplastic transformation that have been masked under complex karyotypes in epithelial solid tumors. High-density CGH-array therefore paves the way for identification of disease-related genetic aberrations that have not yet been detected by existing technologies, and array-based CGH technology should soon be practical for diagnosis of cancer or genetic diseases in the clinical setting.
Inazawa
Johji
J
Department of Molecular Cytogenetics, Medical Research Institute and School of Biomedical Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. johinaz.cgen@mri.tmd.ac.jp
Inoue
Jun
J
Imoto
Issei
I
D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D007621:Karyotyping; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods*; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011786:Quality Control