BAC-FISH assays delineate complex chromosomal rearrangements in a case of post-Chernobyl childhood thyroid cancer.
Structural chromosome aberrations are known hallmarks of many solid tumors. In the papillary form of thyroid cancer (PTC), for example, activation of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes, RET and neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor type I (NTRK1) by intra- and interchromosomal rearrangements has been suggested as a cause of the disease. However, many phenotypically similar tumors do not carry an activated RET or NTRK-1 gene or express abnormal ret or NTRK-1 transcripts. Thus, we hypothesize that other cellular RTK-type genes are aberrantly expressed in these tumors. Using fluorescence in situ hybridization-based methods, we are studying karyotype changes in a relatively rare subgroup of PTCs, i.e., tumors that arose in children following the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine. Here, we report our technical developments and progress in deciphering complex chromosome aberrations in case S48TK, an aggressively growing PTC cell line, which shows an unusual high number of unbalanced translocations.
Kwan
Johnson
J
Life Sciences Division, University of California, E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
Baumgartner
Adolf
A
Lu
Chun-Mei
CM
Wang
Mei
M
Weier
Jingly F
JF
Zitzelsberger
Horst F
HF
Weier
Heinz-Ulrich G
HU
D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D002648:Child; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008297:Male; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D012015:Reference Standards; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000473:pathology*; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology