Absence of terminal telomeric FISH signals in chromosomes from immortal Chinese hamster cells

摘要

In contrast to normal Chinese hamster cells, terminal telomeric signals were not detectable by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in their immortalized counterparts, even when a sensitive cooled CCD camera was used for acquiring FISH images. Since the telomeres were detectable by FISH in immortal human cells, this suggests that hamster and human cells might have different mechanisms of telomere processing.