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Metaphase
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<h2 id="metaphase-in-cytogenetics-and-cancer-studies">Metaphase in cytogenetics and cancer studies</h2> <p>The analysis of metaphase <a href="/facts/Chromosome/FRGf11FC">chromosomes</a> is one of the main tools of classical <a href="/facts/Cytogenetics/Rj22VPvy">cytogenetics</a> and <a href="/facts/Cancer/PVW6n1D0">cancer</a> studies. Chromosomes are condensed (thickened) and highly coiled in metaphase, which makes them most suitable for visual analysis. Metaphase chromosomes make the classical picture of chromosomes (<a href="/facts/Karyotype/UM8j41yA">karyotype</a>). For classical cytogenetic analyses, cells are grown in short term culture and arrested in metaphase using <a href="/facts/Mitotic_inhibitor/hbgHWf3g">mitotic inhibitor</a>. Further they are used for slide preparation and banding (<a href="/facts/Staining/jqGqWEE1">staining</a>) of chromosomes to be visualised under microscope to study structure and number of chromosomes (karyotype). <a href="/facts/Staining/jqGqWEE1">Staining</a> of the slides, often with <a href="/facts/Giemsa/qkA81qvW">Giemsa</a> (<a href="/facts/G_banding/dEuKPThJ">G banding</a>) or <a href="/facts/Quinacrine/Tgjq9l1F">Quinacrine</a>, produces a pattern of in total up to several hundred bands. Normal metaphase spreads are used in methods like <a href="/facts/Fluorescence_in_situ_hybridization/L4juqPoq">FISH</a> and as a hybridization matrix for <a href="/facts/Comparative_genomic_hybridization/FHA7Dqb5">comparative genomic hybridization</a> (CGH) experiments. </p><p><a href="/facts/Malignant_cell/L03QLSbE">Malignant cells</a> from solid <a href="/facts/Tumor/K0ytzmPz">tumors</a> or <a href="/facts/Leukemia/WpEfW0Qh">leukemia</a> samples can also be used for cytogenetic analysis to generate metaphase preparations. Inspection of the stained metaphase chromosomes allows the determination of numerical and structural changes in the tumor cell genome, for example, losses of chromosomal segments or <a href="/facts/Chromosomal_translocation/MKEwqpQw">translocations</a>, which may lead to chimeric <a href="/facts/Oncogene/WLFu6Ma5">oncogenes</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Bcr-abl/YLFIDR3D">bcr-abl</a> in <a href="/facts/Chronic_myelogenous_leukemia/FA9TdgQn">chronic myelogenous leukemia</a>. </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li> Media related to Metaphase at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Chromosome condensation through mitosis". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 12 June 2007. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070611122252.htm" target="_blank">https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070611122252.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Alberts, Bruce; Hopkin, Karen; Johnson, Alexander; Morgan, David; Raff, Martin; Roberts, Keith; Walter, Peter (2019). Essential cell biology (Fifth ed.). New York London: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 632–633. ISBN 9780393680393. <a href="9780393680393" target="_blank">9780393680393</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Metaphase plate". Biology Dictionary. Biology Online. Retrieved 9 December 2012. <a href="http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Metaphase_plate" target="_blank">http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Metaphase_plate</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Metaphase". Nature Education. Retrieved 9 December 2012. <a href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/metaphase-249" target="_blank">http://www.nature.com/scitable/definition/metaphase-249</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"The Cell Cycle". Kimball's Biology Pages. Archived from the original on 19 November 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2012. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121119134405/http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/CellCycle.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20121119134405/http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/C/CellCycle.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>