Identification of chromosomal translocations in leukemias by hybridization with oligonucleotide microarrays

Identification of chromosomal rearrangements is important for a precise risk-stratified diagnosis of hematologic malignancies. As the number of known translocations, specific for different types of leukemia increases, it takes ever more time and increasing amounts of patient's material to screen a single patient with individual polymerase chain reactions (PCR). The aim of this study was to develop a new approach combining specificity with high-throughput sufficient for rapid screening of clinical samples for the presence of numerous translocations.

We designed an oligonucleotide microarray and used hybridization with microarrays in combination with multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for accurate and rapid identification of some major leukemias. The following translocations were used as prototypic: t(9;22) p210 and p190, t(4;11), t(12;21), and t(15;17). This approach was tested on five different cell cultures carrying translocations and on 22 clinical samples from leukemic patients.

Distinctive hybridization signals were obtained for all types of chimeric transcripts from cell lines with translocations. Both the type of translocation and the splice variant were determined. The data demonstrated high specificity and reproducibility of the method. Analysis of the 22 clinical samples using the microarray-based approach showed complete agreement with standard PCR analysis.

Our data suggest that oligonucleotide microarrays can be used as an efficient, alternative approach to the traditional post-PCR Southern blot analysis. The oligonucleotide microarray approach appears suitable for clinical screening of major risk-stratifying translocations in patients with leukemia.