Torbjörn Oskar Caspersson: curriculum vitae and selected publications.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B H Mayall.
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Image cytometry and computer analysis are used to determine the relative DNA content and the DNA-based centromeric index of the 24 chromosomes of the human karyotype. A two-step procedure is used. Chromosomes of cells in metaphase first are stained with quinacrine and identified visually by their fluorescent Q-band patterns. They then are stained for DNA using gallocyanin-chrome alum. The chromosome images are scanned and recorded as digital values of optical density by an CYDAC image cytometric microscope system, CYDAC. The digital images are processed by computer to measure for each chromosome the relative DNA stain contents of the whole chromosome and of the p and q arms and the DNA-based centromeric index. About ten cells are analyzed for each of the donors, who are phenotypically normal men and women. The chromosome measurements are pooled by chromosome type for each donor and are compared among donors. The means of the chromosome measurements give the DNA-based human karyotype. Analysis of the DNA-based data shows that some chromosomes or portions of chromosomes vary significantly among donors. These variants do not correlate with detectable morphologic polymorphisms, such as Q- or C-band variants; thus they represent new and otherwise undetectable chromosome polymorphisms whose genetic basis and clinical significance are yet to be determined.
Analysis of cellular DNA content by cytometry is important in clinical and biological research. Measurements are used widely to assess the relative DNA content of tumor stemlines and to assist in the detection and evaluation of malignant diseases. A review of the literature on DNA measurements in solid tumor and leukemias reveals a confusing variety of terms applied for the description of similar results. In order to facilitate the understanding of data and to standardize the terminology for DNA analyses, a questionnaire was distributed to more than 500 investigators. Subsequently, a workshop on terminology was held at the Combined Conference on Analytical Cytology and Cytometry IX and VIth International Symposium on Flow Cytometry, Schloss Elmau, West Germany, 18-23 October, 1982. The workshop nominated a nine-member committee to develop guidelines for nomenclature to be used in reporting results from analyses by DNA cytometry. The committee was charged by the Council of the Society for Analytical Cytology to complete this task and to publish its recommendations in Cytometry and in Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics. The following guidelines are based on the questionnaires returned and the discussion at the workshop; they represent the unanimous recommendations of the committee. The five guidelines given herein apply to measurements of relative DNA content of cells that have been stained appropriately and analyzed by cytometry.
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This paper is concerned with the problem of deciding whether measurements from homologous chromosomes differ. First, a general mathematical model is proposed for studying the distribution of chromosome measurements. Next, log-likelihood ratios are used to test for correlation between homolog pairs and for differences between homolog means and variances. The tests are applied to measurments on 1946 pairs of chromosomes from 10 normal individuals. Test results are interpreted taking into account the large number (2025 total tests) required by the study. Our results demonstrate that, at the current level of resolution, most homologs do not show differences in DNA content. However, there is some evidence that several homologs pairs differ by small amounts of DNA (less than 0.2% of the autosomal genome). Power studies indicate that sample sizes of 20 to 30 measurements are required to detect differences of this size.
DNA cytophotometry was used to obtain the relative DNA content of mitotic chromosomes of Orytolagus cuniculus. DNA ranking of the rabbit chromosomes is presented, and related to the quinacrine and Giemsa-banded karyotype. In addition, the relative DNA content of the short and long arms of each chromosome was calculated and the DNA-based centromeric index, (i.e., the ratio of long-arm DNA to total chromosomal DNA) determined. The Y chromosome is clearly a submetacentric chromosome on the basis of the DNA measurements.
Flow cytometry and electronic cell sorting are being investigated to screen gynecologic specimens for cervical neoplasia. Cellular DNA content is quantitated by Chromomycin A3 fluorescence and cell size is quantitated by 90 degrees light scatter; the logarithms of the measured intensities are used to produce a two parameter histogram. To determine the cell types responsible for signals in various histogram regions, systematic electronic cell sorting is performed. The sorted fractions are sedimented into microscope slides and stained by the Papanicolaou technique. The cells in each fraction are identified by conventional cytomorphologic criteria. Morphologic analysis of sorted cells reveals histogram regions corresponding to specific cell types. One very important region contains the highest concentration of signals from abnormal cells and is therefore the best region to analyze for specimen abnormality. However, because a significant number of signals in this region are from normal cells, specimens cannot be diagnosed by their analysis. Another important histogram region is composed primarily of signals from endocervical columnar and metaplastic cells. The presence of such cells is a good criterion for specimen adequacy, therefore analysis of signals in this region is essential to assess specimen adequacy for automatic screening.
An interactive computer program, SWELL, displayss and analyzes bivariate distributions generated by flow cytometers. SWELL is modular with options available via a menu, is written in Fortran, and utilizes a video color display system. Data are accumulated as a bivariate distribution that is transferred to the computer as a 64 x 64 matrix. For ease of visualization, matrices are displayed in pseudocolor. The distribution values are broken into eight ranges and each range is represented by a color. Each element of the matrix is then displayed in its assigned color. To allow pooling and comparison, distributions are aligned, edited, and standardized. Unknown samples are pooled or analyzed singly and compared to the normal pool by subtraction. Differences are displayed as pseudocolor matrices of sign, magnitude, or statistical magnitude in units of standard deviation. This latter display, scaled to tolerance limits, readily reveals regions of significant difference between normal and abnormal samples. Counts within such regions can be compared to diagnose samples automatically.
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DNA cytophotometry was used to quantify the chromosomal alterations in the bone marrow and blood of three patients with nonspecific myeloid disorders. All patients possessed a population of cells with a morphologically abnormal chromosome 20, del(20)(qll). In two of the patients, the abnormal chromosome 20 showed nearly identical DNA measurements with a net loss of 0.37% of the total autosomal DNA in one patient and 0.38% in the second. The third patient had a net loss of only 0.25% of the autosomal DNA. Analysis of the DNA content of the long arm and short arm of the abnormal No. 20 indicated that all three cases had chromosomal material added to the short arm (0.10 to 0.14% of the autosomal DNA). About 0.50% of the autosomal DNA was deleted from the long arm in two of the patients; only 0.35% of the autosomal DNA was deleted from the long arm in the third case. Within the limit of resolution, there is no evidence that the material lost has been translocated intact to another chromosome. The origin of the 20q- chromosome as the result of an incomplete pericentric inversion is suggested.
DNA cytophotometry was used to resolve a cytogenetic ambiguity involving a possible deletion of part of the short arm of chromosome 18 in cells obtained by amniocentesis. Measurements of chromosomal DNA content were within normal limits. This is the first time that DNA cytophotometry has been used in cytogenetic diagnosis; it illustrates the potential of this new approach to cytogenetics.
Requirements for flow cytometry of metaphase chromosomes stained with three deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-specific fluorescent dyes--Hoechst 33258, Chromomycin A3, and ethidium bromide--are reviewed. Fluorescence properties of these three stains when bound to mitotic cells or to chromosomes in suspension are measured and compared with fluorescence properties when bound to DNA in solution. Conditions are given for high resolution flow cytometry of Chinese hamster chromosomes stained with each of the fluorophors, and histograms are presented that exhibit differences in relative peak position and area. Energy transfer fluorescence between two DNA stains is presented as a potentially useful new parameter for flow cytometry of chromosomes and is illustrated by fluorescence energy transfer from Chromomycin A3 to ethidium bromide when simultaneously bound to hamster mitotic cells.
DNA-based cytophotometry was used to analyze metaphase chromosomes in four patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia. In three of these patients, both Philadelphia chromosome (Ph1)-positive and Ph1-negative cells were measured. On the basis of these three patients, the characteristic 9q+/22q- translocation of chronic myelogenous leukemia involves the net transfer of 0.325% of the autosomal genome; there is no evidence of net gain or loss of DNA (apart from duplication of the Ph1 chromosome in one patient), and no significant difference is found in the amount of DNA transferred in different patients. Significant differences are found among patients in the derived Chromosomes 9 and the Ph1 chromosomes and are ascribed to preexisting variations in the Ph1-negative cells of these patients. There is no evidence in these patients of any further cytogenetic lesion associated with chronic myelogenous leukemia.
Metaphase chromosomes were isolated from a male Indian muntjac cell line, were stained with ethidium bromide and were analyzed by flow microfluorometry to establish a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based karyotype. Five major peaks were evident on the chromosomal DNA distribution corresponding to the five chromosome types in this species. The amount of DNA in each chromosome was confirmed by cytophotometric measurements of intact metaphase spreads. The five chromosome types were separated by flow sorting at rates up to several hundred chromosomes per second. The sorted chromosomes were identified by morphology and by Giemsa banding patterns. The automsomes, Numbers 1, 2 and 3, and the X + 3 composite chromosome were separated with a high degree of purity (90%). The centromere region of the X + 3 chromosome was fragile to mechanical shearing, and during isolation a small proportion of these chromosomes broke into four segiments: the long arm, the short arm, the short arm plus centromere and the centromere region. A large fraction of the constitutive heterochromatin of this species is present in the centromere region of the X + 3 chromosome and in the Y chromosome; these two regions possess similar amounts of DNA and therefore sort together. Chromosome flow sorting is rapid, reproducible and precise; it allows the collection of microgram quantities of purified chromosomes.
A flow microfluorometer was used to measure metaphase chromosomes in suspension at rates up to 100,000 per min. Chromosomes from cells of the Chinese hamster M3-1 cell line were isolated, stained for DNA with the fluorescent dye ethidium bromide, and analyzed for DNA content. Nine distinct peaks were resolved that correspond well with independent chromosomal DNA measurements made with a high-resolution scanning cytophotometer. Chromosomes were sorted from each peak by an electronic cell sorter. Visual examination of each fraction indicated the purity of the sorted chromosomes. This novel technology allows separation of purified populations of individual chromosomes suitable for biochemical and biological characterizations.
We describe a new flow-system technique for high-speed quantitative karyotyping. Metaphase chromosomes are isolated from cells, stained with a DNA-specific fluorochrome, and individually measured for stain content at rates up to 10(5)/min in a flow microfluorometer. The resulting distribution contains quantitative information about the relative frequency of occurrence and the chromosomal DNA content of the measured chromosomes. Such analyses of Chinese hamster chromosomes are in good agreement with independent results from scanning cytophotometry and with cytogenetic observations of the banded chromosomes. Analyses of two karyotypically different clones of Chinese hamseter M3-1 lines provide the quantitative characterization of two stable translocations. Initial data on human chromosomes are presented and agree well with results of scanning cytophotometry and suggest potential clinical applications as preparative and instrumental techniques improve.
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