[Applications of FISH to chromosome analysis in hematological malignancies]

In situ hybridization provides a direct method to localize DNA sequences on metaphase chromosomes. Initially, nucleic acid probes were labeled isotopically and detected by autoradiography. Recently, fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) have been developed. FISH has resolved several problems, such as radiolysis of probes, long exposure times, high background noise, and unclear localization of silver-grains visualized by autoradiography. In addition, FISH allows us to study numerical and structural chromosome aberrations using chromosome-specific DNA probes, not only in metaphase chromosome, but also in interphase nuclei. Therefore, FISH can be applied to a broad spectrum of biological and clinical problems in hematological malignancies.