The adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are dependent parvoviruses that require helper viruses for replication. They are classified based on size and structure. Because the majority of AAV isolates were first identified as contaminants of laboratory stocks of adenovirus, little is kn ...
The limited packaging capacity of adeno-associated virus (AAV) has long been recognized as one of the most troublesome obstacles for the development of this gene delivery system. This size constraint derives from the inherent properties of the wild-type AAV virus. As the smallest DNA virus, t ...
Retroviral vectors based on Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus (MLV), described more than 15 years ago (1), first entered clinical trials in 1990 (2). Since then, a greater understanding of the basic retrovirus biology and how it relates to the production of recombinant retroviral vectors has help ...
Gene expression systems that can be induced or regulated are particularly useful when the gene of interest is toxic to the cell, or when the amount of protein expressed needs to be tightly controlled, such as for gene therapy. Many systems are available that achieve high levels of induced gene expres ...
The development of retroviral vectors has provided scientists with an effective way of achieving gene transfer stable over cell generations. This is possible because integration of proviral DNA into the genome of infected cells permits duplication of the ectopic genetic informati ...
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus (see Fig. 1A-reviewed in ref. 1). The mature virion consists of the following components: Fig. 1.A. Schematic depiction of a mature HSV virion illustrating the main components of the virus particle. B. The HSV genome is organized i ...
The development of retroviral gene transfer vectors has provided an effective way to deliver foreign genes into mammalian cells. This chapter will focus on the development of a simian retrovirus (SRV) gene delivery system. This includes the identification of the minimal packaging sign ...
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a molecular cytogenetic technique that can characterize excess and missing cytogenetic material often unrecognizable by G-banding, in a one step global screening procedure. The advantage of CGH over conventional fluorescence in situ ...
A marker chromosome is defined as a structurally abnormal supernumerary chromosome that can not be identified by routine cytogenetics. Examples of marker chromosomes include rings, derivatives, dicentrics, and minute chromosomes. Current literature suggests that supernu ...
Cytogenetic analysis is currently a standard prenatal diagnostic test. It is routinely offered to pregnant patients who have an increased risk of carrying chromosomally abnormal fetuses. The traditional “gold standard” for prenatal diagnosis of chromosome abnormalities is me ...
Fetal chromosomal aneuploidies can be detected by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of intact fetal cells circulating in maternal blood. Given the low number of circulating fetal cells (1 in 104 to 106 maternal cells) at any given time during pregnancy and given that no fetal-s ...
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been introduced as a principally new approach to the prevention of genetic disorders, avoiding prenatal diagnosis and potential termination of pregnancy (1,2). It is based on the genetic testing of oocytes or embryos, with the purpose of estab ...
Cells with uniparental disomy (UPD) may have a normal cytogenetic karyotype but are unbalanced in terms of parental contribution. Diagnosis of UPD thus requires genotyping the ‘patient’ and parental DNA samples, i.e., evaluating the inheritance of molecular polymorphisms. This is most ...
Schmickel first defined the Contiguous Gene syndromes in 1986. These are syndromes that involve the deletion of a contiguous stretch of DNA, including multiple genes, on a chromosome. They are also referred to as microdeletion syndromes or segmental aneusomy. These syndromes are clinic ...
Conventional cytogenetic analysis has contributed for the last 35 yr to establishing the etiology of spontaneous abortions (SAs), representing an important diagnostic aid for reproductive pathologists, geneticists, and physicians. There is however a problem in obtaining a cyt ...
This chapter deals with the application of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to study interphase nuclei from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). In our experience, FISH for BCR/ABL fusion detects all forms of the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome (1,2). FISH is a valuable adju ...
Gene amplification is frequently detected in human tumor cells and is thought to make an important contribution to tumorigenesis (1,2). Systematic scanning of the whole genome of tumor cells using comparative genomic hybridization has revealed that gene copy number changes occur con ...
Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technologies enable rapid detection of chromosome aberrations in all manner of tissues, including both fresh and archival specimens. These technologies have gained broad acceptance in the clinical cytogenetic and research communi ...
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) provides genome-scale overviews of chromosomal copy number changes in tumors (1). Unlike conventional cytogenetic analysis, it needs no cell culturing, making it applicable to practically any kind of clinical specimen from which DNA can be o ...
Chromosome aberrations are regularly detected in most hematologic neoplasms and in various solid tumors and are often associated with distinct morphologic and immunophenotypic features of certain clinico-pathologic entities of tumors (1–4). Detection of these chromosome a ...
