Frequencies of occurrence of all human chromosomes in micronuclei from normal and 5-azacytidine-treated lymphocytes as revealed by chromosome painting.

Chromosome painting with library DNA probes specific for all human chromosomes was used to study the chromosomal content of micronuclei (MN) in normal and 5-azacytidine (5-aza-C)-treated lymphocyte cultures. More than 60,000 normal lymphocytes were screened for associated MN after in situ hybridization. At least 50 MN were scored for each probe. With the exception of chromosomes 12 and 19, which did not occur in MN, all other chromosomes were detected in MN at frequencies varying from 1 to 11.5%. Treatment of lymphocyte cultures with 5-aza-C induced preferential exclusion of chromosomes 1 (34%), 9 (32%) and 16 (20%) material in MN, whereas chromosome 8, 10, 12-15 and 21 material was not detected in MN. The results obtained from normal lymphocytes allow for the first time an estimation of the frequency of occurrence of all chromosomes in spontaneously occurring MN in human cells. Data derived from 5-aza-C-treated lymphocytes are furthermore consistent with the view that undermethylation of heterochromatin may be associated with loss of specific chromosomes at metaphase.