MICROSATELLITE MARKERS AS TOOLS FOR CHARACTERIZATION OF DNA AMPLIFICATIONS EVALUATED BY COMPARATIVE GENOMIC HYBRIDIZATION

To test the applicability of microsatellite markers in the study of DN A amplifications evaluated by comparative genomic hybridization, we an alyzed 55 highly polymorphic microsatellite marker loci from six lipos arcoma tumors (seven specimens) and from one atypical lipoma with a ga in or high-level amplification at 12q13-22. Twelve-trisomic neoplastic cells from a patient with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia were us ed as a positive control, in which 74% of informative loci showed alle lic imbalance. In every tumor specimen microsatellite marker loci anal ysis showed allelic imbalance. The amplicons were discontinuous, indic ating the presence of separate amplicons in the 12q13-22 region. Not o nly gains but also losses as well as concomitant gains and losses of a lleles were observed. The use of microsatellite markers has several ad vantages: gene loci as well as flanking DNA loci can be analyzed, it i s fast and lends itself to automation, and allows a large number of ma rker loci to be analyzed simultaneously. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 19 97.