MOLECULAR CYTOGENETIC DELINEATION OF 17Q TRANSLOCATION BREAKPOINTS INNEUROBLASTOMA CELL-LINES

It has recently been recognized that unbalanced translocations resulti ng in the gain of material from 17q are the most common chromosomal ch anges in neuroblastoma. These rearrangements are associated with estab lished indicators of bad prognosis and poor patient survival. We have used 13 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probes to map 12 tra nslocation breakpoints on 17q in 10 neuroblastoma cell lines, identify ing at least seven different breakpoints, all localized within the pro ximal half of 17q (268-369 cR, 53-68 cM). These results suggest that t he dosage of a gene, or genes, in 17q22-qter is responsible for the cl inical effects of 17q gain, rather than the disruption of a specific g ene. This region contains two genes, nm23-HI and NGFR, already implica ted in neuroblastoma biology. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.