SCOMP is superior to degenerated oligonucleotide primed-polymerase chain reaction for global amplification of minute amounts of DNA from microdissected archival tissue samples.

Global genome amplification from formalin-fixed tissues is still problematic when performed with low cell numbers. Here, we tested a recently developed method for whole genome amplification termed "SCOMP" (single cell comparative genomic hybridization) on archival tissues of different ages. We show that the method is very well suited for formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples obtained by nuclei extraction or laser microdissection. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products can be used for subsequent comparative genomic hybridization, loss of heterozygosity studies, and DNA sequencing. To control for PCR-induced artifacts we amplified genomic DNA isolated from 20 nuclei of archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded nonpathological lymph nodes. Subsequent comparative genomic hybridization revealed the expected balanced profiles. For loss of heterozygosity analysis by microsatellite PCR 60 to 160 cells were sufficient. In comparative experiments the approach turned out to be superior to published degenerated oligonucleotide-primed-PCR protocols. The method provides a robust and valuable tool to study very small cell samples, such as the genomes of dysplastic cells or the clonal evolution within heterogeneous tumors.