Human interphase chromosomes: a review of available molecular cytogenetic technologies

Table 1 Molecular cytogenetic techniques, their resolution and validity for single-cell analysis of interphase/metaphase chromosomes (for more details see text)

Approach	Resolution	MA*	IA**	SCA^{^}	PVC^{^^}	Refs
Cytogenetic banding analysis ("golden standard")	5-7 Mb	+	-	+	+	[1]
FISH/MFISH/SKY
FISH/MFISH/SKY with centromeric probes	>0.3-1 Mb	+/-	+	+	+/-	[20–26, 30, 32, 35, 41, 42, 44, 46]
FISH/MFISH/SKY with site-specific probes	~0.1-2 Mb	+/-	+/-	+/-	+/-	[45, 47–50]
FISH/MFISH/SKY with whole-painting probes	>5-10 Mb	+	-	+	+	[2, 3, 5, 6, 13, 36, 39, 40]
MCB
Metaphase MCB	~2-5 Mb	+	-	+	+	[2, 13, 43, 45]
ICS-MCB	~2-5 Mb	-	+	+	+	[23, 24, 26, 28, 29, 31–35]
Fiber FISH	>2.3 (2-3) kb	na	na	+	+	[51, 52]
Single-cell CGH
Standard CGH	2-5 Mb	na	na	+	-	[53]
Array CGH	0.03-1 Mb	na	na	+	-	[14, 54]

* -- analysis of metaphase chromosomes (MA - metaphase analysis); ** -- analysis of interphase chromosomes (IA - interphase analysis); ^{^} -- possibility to perform single cell analysis (SCA); ^{^^} -- possibility to visualize chromosomes or chromosomal loci (PVC - possibility to visualize chromosomal loci); na - not applicable;