title: Genome-wide gene amplification during differentiation of neural progenitor cells in vitro.
abstract: DNA sequence amplification is a phenomenon that occurs predictably at defined stages during normal development in some organisms. Developmental gene amplification was first described in amphibians during gametogenesis and has not yet been described in humans. To date gene amplification in humans is a hallmark of many tumors. We used array-CGH (comparative genomic hybridization) and FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) to discover gene amplifications during in vitro differentiation of human neural progenitor cells. Here we report a complex gene amplification pattern two and five days after induction of differentiation of human neural progenitor cells. We identified several amplified genes in neural progenitor cells that are known to be amplified in malignant tumors. There is also a striking overlap of amplified chromosomal regions between differentiating neural progenitor cells and malignant tumor cells derived from astrocytes. Gene amplifications in normal human cells as physiological process has not been reported yet and may bear resemblance to developmental gene amplifications in amphibians and insects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, Saarland University, Homburg/Saar, Germany. ulrike.fischer@uks.eu
authors.forename: Ulrike
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: Meike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Voss
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Backes
authors.forename: Cornelius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Welter
authors.forename: Eckart
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Meese
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D055028:Comparative Genomic Hybridization; D005784:Gene Amplification; D015894:Genome, Human; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000235:genetics