Chromoprobe Multiprobe-T System Protocol

Chromosomal rearrangements involving the ends of chromosomes have emerged as an important cause of genetic disease given the gene-rich regions adjacent to the telomeres. The importance of such subtelomeric chromosome rearrangements has been clearly shown by their observed association with unexplained mental retardation and congenital abnormalities and with the establishment of new retardation syndromes involving subtelomeric deletions such as the 1p36 deletion syndrome and the 22q13.3 deletion syndrome.

The Chromoprobe Multiprobe-T System combines Cytocell's Chromoprobe Multiprobe technology with a complete set of subtelomere probes to allow the simultaneous analysis of all subtelomeric regions of every chromosome on one slide in one hybridisation.

The Chromoprobe Multiprobe-T device is divided into 24 square areas. Each square carries subtelomere specific probes for both the p-arm and the q-arm of one of the 24 chromosomes (except for the acrocentric chromosomes). The p-arm and the q-arm probes for each chromosome are labelled in different colours, with two spectrally independent fluorophores (green and red respectively), and are located together in the corresponding Multiprobe square. The probes provide each other with an internal hybridisation control and effective chromosome identification.
Cytocell's subtelomere specific probes have been chosen from the most distal unique sequence to provide the best possible chromosome specificity whilst also being the most subtelomeric probes available that are capable of being used routinely to examine subtelomere enumeration and integrity.
The isolation of these clones, together with the technique of fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and the Chromoprobe Multiprobe technology, provide a practical cytogenetic solution for routine subtelomere screening.
The Chromoprobe Multiprobe System is designed for fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) of metaphase chromosomes from cultured peripheral blood cells.