Cellular arrays and methods of detecting and using genetic disorder markers

Abstract

A method is disclosed for rapid molecular profiling of tissue or other cellular specimens by placing a donor specimen in an assigned location in a recipient array, providing copies of the array, and performing a different biological analysis of each copy. The results of the different biological analyses are compared to determine if there are correlations between the results of the different biological analyses at each assigned location. In some embodiments, the specimens may be tissue specimens from different tumors, which are subjected to multiple parallel molecular (including genetic and immunological) analyses. The results of the parallel analyses are then used to detect common molecular characteristics of the genetic disorder type, which can subsequently be used in the diagnosis or treatment of the disease. The biological characteristics of the tissue can be correlated with clinical or other information, to detect characteristics associated with the tissue, such as susceptibility or resistance to particular types of drug treatment. Other examples of suitable tissues which can be placed in the matrix include tissue from transgenic or model organisms, or cellular suspensions (such as cytological preparations or specimens of liquid malignancies or cell lines).

1 . A method of detecting and distinguishing the presence of hormone-refractory or metastatic prostate cell growth in a human prostate tissue specimen, the method comprising:
 a. obtaining a prostate tissue specimen;   b. providing a probe set comprising a labeled 8q24 locus specific probe and an Xq12 locus specific probe;   c. contacting said specimen with said labeled probes of step b), and;   d. detecting the presence of hormone-refractory prostate cancer cell growth or metastatic prostate cancer cell growth wherein Xq12 amplification in the human prostate tissue sample greater than 8q24 amplification, if any, is indicative of hormone-refractory cell growth and, equivalent Xq12 amplification and 8q24 amplification in the human prostate tissue sample is indicative of metastatic prostate cancer cell growth.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is used to determine if amplification is present. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is used to determine if amplification is present. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a cDNA microarray is used to determine if amplification is present. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein in step b) a labeled X centromeric probe and a labeled chromosome 8 centromeric probe are also provided and 8q24 and/or Xq12 are considered amplified if said loci are amplified at least 3 times more than the signals for the respective centromeric signals per cell in at least 10% of identified tumor cells.