Measurement Of Chromosome-specific Relative Telomere Lengths In Leukocytes Of Normal Individuals And Cml Patients

Objective To establish a relative telomere length (RTL)-based common standard for the measurement of single telomere lengths in human chromosomes, investigate the length distribution and variation of chromosome-specific telomeres of normal individuals, study the variation of chromosome-specific telomeres of CML patients.Method Using quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (Q-FISH), the fluorescence intensity of each single telomere was detected, then converted to an Relative Telomere Length(RTL), then make comparation of the chromosome-specific telomeres RTL values among normal individuals and between normal individuals and CML cases.Result In normal individuals, telomere lengths at different chromosome end showed a nonrandom distribution and varied significantly (F=8.923,p<0.001). The RTL at chromosome ends of 2q ,16p,17p,17q, 19p, 20q, 22q, Yq were shorter than others(p<0.05), whereas the RTL at 3p, 5p ,Xp and Yp (p:chromosome short arm, q:chromosome long arm) were longer than others (p<0.05); In CML cases, the RTL at chromosome ends of 1q, 3p, 15p, 21p, 22p were shorter than normal individuals(p<0.05),whereas the RTL at 2q, 3q, 6p, 7q, 10p, 10q, 11p, 16p, 17p and Xp were longer than normal inviduals(p<0.05).Conclusion Using RTL generated from fluorescence intensity of the Q-FISH to determine chromosome-specific telomere length can be easily standardized and analyzed; the 46 chromosomes'telomere lengths show specific distribution profile in normal individuals; There were specific long or short telomeres in CML patients, and these telomeres may contributed to the leukemia genesis and progression of CML.