TALEN-Induced Translocations in Human Cells

Induction of chromosomal translocations in human cells is of a great interest to study tumorigenesis and genome instability. Here, we explain in detail a method to induce translocations using the transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs). We describe how to detect translocation formation by PCR, calculate translocation frequency by 96-well PCR screen, and analyze breakpoint junctions. When inducing cancer translocations, it is also possible to detect the fusion gene by FISH analysis or western blot.