| The People Bibliography
You
Can Help!
|
|
FISH Picture of Pancreatic Cancer
Fluorescent In-Situ
Hybridization (FISH) using a chromosomal paint for chromosome 13 (in green) and a probe
from near the BRCA2 gene (in red), applied to a metaphase spread from the pancreatic
cancer cell line Colo357. This cell line has a translocation near, but not exactly at, the
BRCA2 gene. If you look carefully, you will see green color extends on both sides of the
red dots, indicating that the BRCA2 gene is entirely contained within an undisturbed
portion of the chromosome 13. The multiple forms of chromosome 13, including both 'head to
head' and 'head to tail' rearrangements which produce a double version of the chromosome,
as well as some normal copies of the chromosome, illustrate well the bizarre chromosomal
rearrangements which can be seen in pancreatic cancer. Note also the eight copies of the
chromosome instead of the normal two. This is one of the manifestations of the property of
cancer cells called 'aneuploidy', where the number and structure of the chromosomes is
altered. |
