Peptide nucleic acid in situ labeling (PNA-FISH) techniques provide an attractive alternative to conventional FISH and PRINS procedures for chromosomal in situ detection. PNA probes are synthetic DNA analogs with uncharged polyamide backbones. The PNA labeling reaction presents several advantages (specificity, rapidity, discriminating ability, short length of the PNA probes) that make it very attractive for cytogenetic purposes. The efficiency of centromeric and telomeric PNA probes has recently been demonstrated on human cell preparations. Their adaptation for human cells has allowed the development of new and fast molecular cytogenetic procedures, which can advantageously be used to complement FISH and PRINS techniques for the in situ assessment of aneuploidy.
