Array-CGH analysis of microdissected chromosome 19 markers in ovarian carcinoma identifies candidate target genes

Alterations of chromosome 19 are among the most frequent cytogenetic changes in ovarian carcinomas. They usually occur as added extra material of unknown origin to 19p or, less frequently, 19q but sometimes as homogeneously staining regions. The precise nature of these markers, i.e., exactly which regions of chromosome 19 are involved and from which chromosome(s) the additional material comes, could only rarely be established. We have investigated by high resolution array-CGH a series of 29 chromosome 19 markers after previous microdissection of ovarian carcinoma metaphases followed by FISH to determine where in chromosome 19 the rearrangements took place as well as from which partner chromosomes the additional material stems, obtaining informative results on 23 markers from 18 carcinomas. Along the entire chromosome 19, a total of nine regions were found gained in 10 or more carcinomas (from 10 to 16) whereas 15 regions were gained in 6 to 10 markers. The most commonly gained region (16 markers) was observed in 19p13 between 20.80 Mbp and 20.85 Mbp from 19pter. According to the human genome 18 (hg18) NCBI 36, a total of 43 genes reside in the most commonly gained regions. Most of them (n = 31) code for zinc finger proteins. None of these genes is known to be involved in human neoplasia (the only exception is the ZNF91, which is found highly expressed in seminomas) but their frequent gain in the examined tumors makes all of them candidates for a pathogenetic role in ovarian carcinogenesis.