PNA Telomere and Centromere FISH Staining for Accurate Analysis of Radiation-Induced Chromosomal Aberrations

Dicentric and centric ring chromosomes are used for radiation-induced damage analysis and biodosimetry after radiation exposure. However, Giemsa stain-based cytogenetic analysis is labor-intense and time-consuming. Moreover, the disadvantage of Giemsa based chromosome analysis is a potential poor reproducibility when researchers are not fully trained for analysis. These problems come from analysis of morphological abnormality of chromosomal aberrations. Locus-specific FISH probes were used to overcome this problem. Centromere probes can visualize centromere locations and help identify dicentric chromosomes and centric rings. Telomere probes help to identify terminal deletion and telomere fusions. Probes were originally designed with a DNA probe but Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes took the place of DNA probes. This chapter introduces PNA telomere and centromere FISH staining and accurate analysis of chromosomal aberrations.