Comparative genomic hybridization analysis of Y79 and FISH mapping indicate the amplified human mitochondrial ATP synthase alpha-subunit gene (ATP5A) maps to chromosome 18q12-->q21.

The four mitochondrial ATP synthase alpha-subunit (ATP5A) genes map to chromosomes 2, 9, 16, and 18. In this study we have refined the localization of two of these genes by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to metaphase spreads, and further characterised the involvement of ATP5A in the amplification process in the retinoblastoma cell line Y79. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) analysis of Y79 indicated that gene amplification was present on both the short arm of chromosome 2 and the long arm of chromosome 18. FISH indicated that the functional ATP5A gene mapped to 18q12-->q21, the same band location identified by CGH analysis of Y79. An ATP5A pseudogene (ATP5AP1) maps to 9p12. Gains in chromosomal material at 18q12-->q21 likely involve hybridization to amplified copies of the ATP5A gene while gains at 2p24 represent hybridization to the MYCN and DDX1 genes, also amplified in Y79.