Three-color fluorescence in situ hybridization for the simultaneous detection of multiple nucleic acid sequences

A method is described for visualizing three nucleic acid sequences simultaneously by in situ hybridization using a new blue immunofluorescent label, amino methyl coumarin acetic acid (AMCA), in combination with green and red fluorescing FITC and TRITC. Three chromosome-specific repetitive probes labeled with either amino acetyl fluorene (AAF), mercury, or biotin were hybridized simultaneously to metaphase chromosomes prepared from human blood lymphocytes or to interphase tumor nuclei. Conditions for the combined use of three immunocytochemical affinity systems as well as the optimal spectral separation of the three fluorescing labels have been determined. Three-color in situ hybridization was applied to the study of numerical chromosome abnormalities as occur in human solid tumors. Further applications of this method in prenatal diagnosis for the detection of aneuploidy of the most frequently involved autosomes, as well as for the quantification of gene copy number and mRNA expression, are discussed.