High Resolution Mapping of DNA Copy Alterations in Human Chromosome 22 Using High Density Tiling Oligonucleotide Arrays

Deletions and amplifications of the human genomic sequence (Copy Number Polymorphisms, or 'CNPs') are the cause for numerous diseases and a potential cause of phenotypic variation in the normal population. Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) has been developed as a useful tool for detecting alterations in DNA copy number that involve blocks of DNA several kilobases or greater in size. We have developed High-Resolution CGH (HR-CGH) to detect accurately and with relatively little bias the presence and extent of chromosomal aberrations in human DNA. Maskless array synthesis was used to construct arrays containing 393,000 oligonucleotides with isothermal probes of 45-85 bp in length; arrays tiling the β-globin locus and chromosome 22q were prepared. Arrays with 9 bp tiling path were used to map a 622 bp heterozygous deletion in the β-globin locus. Arrays with an 85 bp tiling path were used to analyze DNA from patients with copy number changes in the pericentromeric region of chromosome 22. Heterozygous deletions and duplications as well as partial triploidies and partial tetraploidies of portions of chromosome 22q were mapped with high resolution in each patient, and the precise breakpoint of two deletions was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Additional peaks potentially corresponding to known and novel additional CNPs were also observed. Our results demonstrate that HR-CGH allows the detection of copy-number changes in any given region of the human genome comprehensively and at an unprecedented level of resolution. Keywords: high resolution comparative genome hybridization (HR-CGH) The overall goal of the study was the detection of the precise boundaries of chromosomal aberrations involved in disease. Maskless array synthesis was used to construct custom isothermal arrays containing up to 385,000 oligonucleotides, either tiling the non-repetitive regions of chromosome 22, or focussing on the beta-globin locus on chromosome 11. Genomic DNA isolated from patients (Cy3) was co-hybridized with a reference DNA pool (Promega; Cy5).