Array-Based Comparative Genomic Hybridization for the Detection of Copy Number Alterations in Single Cells.

Abstract

Comprehensive genome-wide analyses of single cells represent an important tool for clinical applications, such as pre-implantation diagnostic and prenatal diagnosis, as well as for cancer research purpose. For the latter, studies of tumor heterogeneity, circulating tumor cells (CTCs), and disseminated cancer cells (DCCs) require the analysis of single-cell genomes. Here we describe a reliable and robust array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) protocol based on Ampli 1™ whole genome amplification that allows the detection of copy number alterations (CNAs) in single cancer cells as small as 100kb.