PNA on human sperm: a new approach for in situ aneuploidy estimation

Peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) are a relatively new class of synthetic DNA mimics based on a peptide-like backbone. Since their introduction, PNA probes have become established as an efficient variation on the standard FISH procedure for chromosomal identification. In this report we have experimented with centromeric PNA probes on human sperm preparations. Both NaOH and DTT sperm decondensation procedures have been tested and comparative estimates of disomies X, Y and 1 have been performed in sperm from two donors using PNA, FISH and PRINS techniques. Similar results were obtained with the three methods, demonstrating the efficiency of PNA probes in the analysis of human sperm. The fast kinetics, stability and high specificity of PNA probes make PNA-based methodologies very valuable for in situ cytogenetic investigations.